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Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, the principle behind this proposed new clause, which would be inserted before Clause 39, is fairness. The Government are seeking to change the routes in this Bill for those applying for various categories of naturalisation and residence in this country. However, we have some issues with some of the planned changes. The people who have faithfully adhered to the current rules and thought that they were firmly established on the road to citizenship should not now have the rug pulled from beneath their feet. They have an expectation of a timescale in which their naturalisation will be fulfilled. Since the last debate in Committee, I have been inundated, as I am sure have other noble Lords, with letters and messages from people in categories that my amendment would help. They have movingly and eloquently expressed their worry, anger and distress that the Government are prepared to muck them about yet again. The Government have already changed the highly skilled migrant programme and applied that retrospectively, even though there is a court case against that, so they must take note of what is happening to those on what used to be called limited leave to remain. My amendment has two paragraphs. The second deals with persons in the latter stages of the citizenship process who are at the most advanced stage of getting their UK passports and ought to be protected. The Government have recognised this but the debate in Committee did not end as clearly as we had hoped. If provisional arrangements are to be put in place, I would like to hear them explained fully on the Floor of the House. It is imperative that we get protection for those who are on the road. The first paragraph seeks to protect those who are a little further away from the ultimate goal of citizenship—those seeking indefinite leave to remain but who are currently on limited leave to remain. I deliberately set the period to within 12 months of the commencement because the longer the Government dither and hold on to this, the less certainty people have. We hear so much about people who are in this country illegally, the problems that that causes and the difficulty that the Government have in removing them that we should be making sure that all those who wish to stay for a period of time do so by using legal and proper channels. We are seeking to prevent retrospectivity. In his letter to us, the noble Lord, Lord Brett, suggested that those who are currently on indefinite leave to remain and those moving into citizenship within the next year or so will not have anything to do under the new citizenship arrangements, but those who are on limited leave to remain will be affected by transitional arrangements. We are seeking to ensure that those who are in the closing stages of limited leave to remain do not get caught up in the transitional arrangements. Many of them have been on the path for three, four or five years and are ready to move on. It seems completely unfair that they should have to go back and start again or even take into account the earned citizenship provisions in this Bill. I beg to move.