UK Borders Bill

I have added my name to the amendment, which seems to me entirely admirable. The arguments put forward by the noble Lords, Lord Goodhart and Lord Avebury, seem to me to be overwhelming. It is a particular pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Avebury. Back in the early 1960s, I had the great good fortune not to be selected as the Conservative candidate in the Orpington by-election, which was won by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury—then Eric Lubbock—in what was certainly the worst Conservative by-election defeat in living memory. Had I been selected, I imagine that I would probably not be standing here now because the political career of the unfortunate individual who was selected came to a rapid halt. We find ourselves in an extraordinary situation. The Government have persisted in maintaining their position with a totally incomprehensible series of arguments. At Question Time the other day, the Minister quoted the statement by the noble Lord, Lord Filkin, that we can only go so far towards righting the wrongs of history. The noble Baroness, Lady Ashton of Upholland, on the then Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill, paraphrased his remarks by saying, "““we cannot undo everything that went before””.—[Official Report, 7/2/06; col. 630.]" We cannot undo everything that has gone before, but we do not have to go on doing it. That is what we are doing, and there is no reason why what has happened in the past, sad though that may be, should not be put right for the future. It seems to me that what has happened is very strange. The Government have made one minor concession after another; it is the opposite of a death by a thousand cuts. It is gradually getting better, but we still have not come to the end. We really are at the end game. The noble Baroness, Lady Ashton of Upholland, speaking in the debate reported at col. 630 of Hansard on 7 February 2006, seemed to get involved in the most extraordinary and convoluted argument about whether it was right to give these people nationality or right of abode depending on whether they were children or adults, and that is the crux of the matter. It occurred to me on a previous amendment that there is a confusion here. That amendment states that, "““‘child’ means an individual who is less than 18 years old””." But as far as the relationship with the parent is concerned, they remain the children of that parent regardless of their age. It is a totally different concept. The concept that is relevant in relation to this amendment is that they are the children of a particular person. In the extract to which I referred, the noble Baroness got in an even bigger muddle as she somehow got mixed up with the question of siblings and so on. It is the relationship with the parent that is relevant, not the relationship with a sibling. However, as has been pointed out, the way the deadline is set, some siblings are one side of it while others are the other. But quite apart from all these arguments, it seems to me that the time has come to put the matter right. As the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, pointed out, this measure is concerned with abode rather than citizenship, which was what I dealt with the other day. None the less, it is a move in the right direction. I am sure that if the measure concerned with abode is accepted, one will rapidly get a concession on citizenship. I have a terrible feeling that what is really happening is that somewhere deep down in the Home Office an official is determined not to change his mind. It is time for the Minister to get hold of that official, or collection of officials, and bang their heads together, but not at this very moment. The officials sitting behind him may well not be causing the problem. However, we really ought to sort this matter out. My final point cuts away from all these technical matters. Over the years the granting of citizenship has changed totally and there have been many controversies. The other day the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, asked whether there was a hidden agenda. We were assured by the Minister that there was not. I suspected that that was the case at first but we take the Minister’s word for it. The reality is that a huge number of people are being granted British citizenship. It was reported in the press the other day that a convicted terrorist had been granted British citizenship. This large number comprises asylum seekers and immigrants of all kinds. The numbers game is only partially important, but surely when we are giving citizenship to a very large number of people who have absolutely no prior connection whatever with this country, it is wrong to deny it to the category of people mentioned in the letter that the noble Lord quoted. I have received a similar letter. These people are desperately anxious to be British because their mother was British. I believe that the time has come to accept this measure. There are no big financial implications and there is no question of setting precedents. Certainly, we have not heard a single good reason why we should not accept this amendment.