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Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

My Lords, I shall begin with the substantive issue and move on to the question that the noble Lord rightly raised. As the noble Lord indicated, the 1997 Act created an exception to the general rule at the time that British citizenship should be available only to those with a close connection to the United Kingdom. That was due to the particular concerns about those people’s post-1997 future in Hong Kong. It was considered appropriate to extend eligibility to those in the territory who had former British nationality and who otherwise would have been stateless. The provisions of the Act are directed very precisely at this group. We see no case for extending the class of persons eligible for British citizenship under the Act given the guiding principle that British citizenship should normally be restricted to those having close connections with present day British territory, which Hong Kong is not, and the absence of any indication that conditions for non-Chinese residents in Hong Kong have deteriorated since handover in 1997 or that the non-British children of British citizens there face a particularly uncertain future, such as might justify a further exception to the principle in paragraph (a). I am not taken by the substantive amendment that the noble Lord has put forward. On the particular point that the noble Lord raised in relation to Indian citizenship, he has been proven to be precisely right. He has received a letter today from my honourable friend Mr McNulty who outlined the steps that the Home Office proposes to take to bring this development to the attention of those affected. A press notice is being issued in Hong Kong. As the noble Lord said, details are being posted on the websites of the British consulate general there and of the IND directorate in the UK, to which the noble Lord referred last night. I want to be clear that this is not about the Government misleading Parliament in any deliberate way. I know that that is not what the noble Lord suggested. Officials have held lengthy conversations and discussions with their Indian counterparts. The noble Lord, Lord Avebury, will know that this issue came to my attention only when he raised it in one of our discussions between Committee and Report of the Bill. It was clear that at that point we were waiting to get a definitive response from the Indian Government, which it was right and proper for us to do. I live in the anticipation that my speaking to the noble Lord in this open way will suffice rather than a statement from the Government, but the noble Lord will have to make up his own mind about that and press the matter if he wishes. I know that he is going to bring out the Companion as he has already indicated that it gives clear and strong advice on the issue. Of course, I shall convey that point to my colleagues in the Home Office to see what they wish to do, but I hope that, whatever they decide to do, the noble Lord will accept that, procedurally, we have followed an appropriate course, which was to wait for the Indian Government to give us a definitive response and then to act with as much speed as we possibly could, and we have done that. When requested to do so, the Home Office will reconsider applications for British citizenship that were refused on the basis of the advice that we received from the Indian Government in 1997–98. I do not have an answer today to the cost question that the noble Lord raised. I will ensure that I write to him on that. He referred specifically to those who had already paid money. As I say, I do not have an answer to that at this point. I hope that, given our speedy response on the websites, what we are seeking to do with the British consulate general and the fact that my honourable friend wrote immediately to the noble Lord to recognise the position, he will consider that, although it may have taken some time, the Government, having got the definitive advice—it was right and proper to do so—acted accordingly. But on the substantive point, the noble Lord will understand that I hope he will feel able to withdraw the amendment.