Clause 2. (REFUSAL OF ADMISSION AND CONDITIONAL ADMISSION.)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 28 February 1968.

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Photo of Mr Nicholas Scott Mr Nicholas Scott , Paddington South 12:00, 28 February 1968

The hon. Gentleman has made out the case against the Amendments as far as they concern the boys from Asia who come to join all-male households. But another problem which he referred to in passing is the impact of the Bill and the Draft Instructions to Immigration Officers about dependants coming here from the West Indies.

As drafted, the Bill insists that both parents should be here, except in certain circumstances which the Under-Secretary of State has outlined. The Amendment suggests either parent. However, I would have preferred to see a provision that the mother alone would be sufficient. My hon. Friends the Members for Bromley (Mr. Hunt) and St. Ives (Mr. Nott) and I put down an Amendment on those lines which, unfortunately, was not selected. This would have been the middle way which would have met the Government's point and met the different patterns of life—