Clause 4 - Deprivation of citizenship
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
9:30 pm
Mr Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith, Labour/Co-operative)
I am still a little concerned about the explanation that the Minister has given of the operation of clause 4 with regard to people who have acquired citizenship by birth in the UK or by descent. That point was raised by the Immigration Law Practitioners Association. I raise it because the number of people who might fall into the category that could be affected by this power are much more substantial than has, perhaps, been suggested.
Many people in the UK have dual citizenship. Sometimes they have dual nationality. Sometimes they have nationality of another state against their will: millions of people in the UK still have Irish nationality under that country's laws, and that is also true of some citizens of other European countries. I confess that I have a nationality of another state.
I welcome the Minister's assurances that this measure will not be used lightly—and I am sure that there is no intention that it should be used lightly. Nevertheless, it is important to consider not just the way that a liberal Home Secretary would apply the rules, but how—perhaps, in a future Government formed by another party—rules might be applied differently. The full implications of clause 4 might not yet have been thoroughly explored, and perhaps in due course the Minister could consider some way of ensuring that certain categories of people—and in particular those people who have, as it were, acquired UK citizenship automatically—would not be at risk of deprivation in the way that has been suggested. It appears that this measure could apply to people who have been born in the UK, and whose families have had a connection with the UK for several generations.
I do not think that that is what is intended, but as the legislation is currently drafted, that is a possibility, and perhaps the Minister could think again at a later stage about the wording of the clause.