HC Deb 23 July 1980 vol 989 cc233-4W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether passports are the only travel documents; and whether British persons with no crime or court order against them may enter or leave the United Kingdom without let or hindrance, with or without a passport, provided he shows irrefutable evidence of identity such as a House of Commons pass, or a firm's pass of a similar kind.

Mr. Raison

Under section 1 (1) of the Immigration Act 1971 all those who have the right of abode in the United Kingdom are free to live in, and to come and go into and from, the United Kingdom without let or hindrance except such as may be required under and in accordance with the Act to enable their right to be established or as may be otherwise lawfully imposed on any person. Under paragraph 3 of the immigration rules a person must, on arrival in the United Kingdom, produce on request by the immigration officer a valid national passport or other document satisfactorily establishing his identity and nationality. A passport or similar document would be the normal and most effective way of establishing a person's identity and nationality.