Home Office Communication 9 Dec 2005

Home Office Communication

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 17 November (WA 155) and having regard to the Home Office communications published at www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/concede-weakness, why they maintain that two sentences were not deleted prior to submission; and whether they will publish in the Official Report the two sentences. [HL2595]

9 Dec 2005 : Column WA130

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The noble Lord's Question of 17 November (WA 155) asked about briefing that was put to the Minister of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality on 19 January 2005. No substantive changes were made to the briefing prior to its submission. The Home Office communication published at www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/concede-weakness relates to a submission that was put to the Minister on 16 December 2004. The 16 December 2004 submission concerned the handling of a proposed application for judicial review of the decision taken on an application for registration as a British citizen under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997. The two sentences included in an early draft, but not in the final version, were as follows:

"It nevertheless seems to me that there is force in Mr [X]'s arguments, and that the position is perhaps not quite so clear cut as we have held it out to be. Applications for registration under the 1997 Act continue to be received (there is no deadline for submission in the Act), and there may be some merit in allowing the matter to come before the courts."