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Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I confirm the answer given by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, to the noble Lord, Lord Hylton. We are talking about a relatively small number of people who could but may not all wish to take advantage of this route. There has been a meeting of minds between the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, and the Government, but as with all meetings of minds there comes a point at which those minds cease to be quite as joined. The point of principle that causes the Government to oppose Amendment 43A is when it proposes that those BNOs who have previously held British Overseas Territories citizenship otherwise than by descent before 1997 could become British citizens otherwise than by descent on registration under Section 4B. That would mean that citizenship could be transferred to a further generation born outside the UK by those who had held British Overseas Territories citizenship otherwise than by descent. The amendment is not necessary, as registration under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 will continue to be available to BNOs if they meet the ordinary residence qualifications in Hong Kong. Those who can meet those requirements will therefore have a choice on whether to register under the 1997 Act or under Section 4B of the BNA 1981. The amendment proposed by the Government to Section 4B will include within its scope those BNOs who find themselves otherwise stateless. That has no impact on the application of the 1997 Act. Following the amendment to Section 4B, there will be at least three routes in which a BNO can acquire British citizenship. That means that the Government are comprehensively addressing the various circumstances in which those individuals find themselves and providing for a form of British citizenship that reflects those circumstances. The current beneficiaries of Section 4B—British overseas citizens, British subjects and British protected persons—acquire that status by descent. To treat BNOs differently would, in our view, be both inconsistent and unfair. I hope that, with that explanation and recognising the spirit with which the Government have brought forward our amendment, the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.