Migration Bill in Commons

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32636, 18 June 1971, Page 2

Migration Bill in Commons

(Bp ALAN GRAHAM, N.ZJ 3 . A. etag correspondent) LONDON, June 16.

A bid by several Labour members of the House of Commons to water down the rights of Commonwealth citizens to enter Britain under the Immigration Bill was defeated by the Government during debate on the bill in the House of Commons this afternoon.

But the Home Secretary (Mr Maudllng) made a separate move that may make it harder for a few New Zealanders to get into Britain without permits.

As originally presented to the Commons, the bill provided automatic permit-free entry and working rights to a Commonwealth citizen with any parent or grandparent who was bom in Britain.

The grandparent relationship was struck out during committee hearings on the bill, but the remaining rights extended through a father or a mother represented an advance for New Zealanders on the present ruling, which gives free entry to New Zealanders only if their father was British.

The Labour members, led by a Scottish M.P., Mr David Steel, declared this extension through the mother to be "totally illogical," and moved for it also to be deleted from the bill.

But after the Junior Home Office Minister (Mr Richard Sharpies) said the Government was determined that this right, which is not given to aliens, should be given to Commonwealth citizens, the Government defeated Mr Steel’s amendment.

The effect of Mr Maudling’s amendment, which was carried, is that automatic rights of entry and working in Britain will not be given to a would-be immigrant if his mother or father through whom he is claiming rights renounced British citizenship before he was bom.

Mr Maudling said it had been explained to him that the reason for granting entry rights to sons and daughters of British citizens was that they had a tie with the land of their father or mother.

Mr Maudling said it had been decided that illegitimate children of British mothers would be given free entry rights under the bill. But it would be quite impossible to administer any entry rights for the illegitimate children of British fethers, since it was almost impossible to prove fatherhood in most cases.