Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, for the record, the Hong Kong (War Wives and Widows) Act came into operation on 18 July 1996 to provide discretionary registration as British citizens of the wives, widows and divorcees of men who fought in the defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War. To be eligible for registration, a woman would have to be resident in Hong Kong, a recipient of a letter from the Home Secretary confirming that she could stay in the UK on the basis of her partner’s wartime service and, if she was no longer married to the man concerned, had not remarried. The 1996 Act is unusual legislation in that it applies only to this very small and finite number of women. It can only ever have affected a maximum of 53, which is the number of ladies who were offered and received the United Kingdom settlement letters. In practice, we expect that most, if not all, of the original 53 who wanted to apply to become UK citizens have done so because there have been no applications under the Act for the past eight years. Whether or not only one or two women are now eligible, the number, as the noble Baroness says, is very small. Having said that, we have no information to suggest that the good character requirement would be a barrier for them. Let us start from the premise that they are the widows of heroes. That is why the Home Secretary has indicated that she would in any case be prepared to consider exercising discretion on the good character requirement of the application should any of these ladies apply in future and the issue arise. This will mean that even if one of them might have committed an offence which would prevent her meeting the good character requirement in normal circumstances, the Home Secretary would be willing to consider overlooking it because this is a specific and deserving group. We have, rightly, been generous to them, and will continue to be generous. It is also worth mentioning that, as for most other applications for citizenship, there is no fee for registration under the 1996 Act, so that those qualifying are already treated favourably in comparison with other applications for citizenship. We are resolving the problem behind the amendment—the small number of women likely to become party to the requirement to exercise discretion—and we have said that we are prepared to do that. We are not prepared to amend the law, however, because of the broader principle that is at stake. We are of the view that British citizenship should be acquired by those who demonstrate their suitability for that status. In moving his amendment, the noble Lord suggested that this was an issue that had come out of the 1996 war widows Act, but in practice this had been in operation since 1983 when the good character requirement was introduced. To remove the legal requirement in this case, having resolved people’s concerns and difficulties that lay behind it, would set a precedent for removing it from other sections where we think it is an important requirement for potential citizens to fulfil. Removing the amendment might be the aim of some people, but in practice we are resolving the problem while making it clear that there is a need to retain the principle. We do not see that there is any threat from this particular group—they are elderly wives and widows of Hong Kong war heroes—which is why the Home Secretary has agreed to exercise her discretion in their favour. However, the Government make no apology for the general application of that test. It is entirely right that we should not extend our citizenship to those who have shown by their behaviour that they do not deserve it; that is an entirely reasonable protection of our nation and the British public. Having seen and heard the argument, however, the Government have responded to ensure that the war widows involved, should they make an application, will not be subject to the application of the test and that discretion will be operated by the Home Secretary in their favour. I therefore believe that we have resolved the issue that moved noble Lords to be concerned, and I would be grateful if the noble Lord withdrew his amendment.