citizenship – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of Southwark asks about British citizens resident in the EU

The Bishop of Southwark asked a question on representation for British Citizens resident in the EU during a debate on the EU Settlement scheme on 13th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, does the Minister agree that a positive move to implement the High Court judgment may help in bilateral representations where British citizens find themselves disadvantaged by the application of the immigration laws in certain EU countries where residence was not hitherto a problem?

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): I entirely agree with the right reverend Prelate that clearly it helps that the Home Office works very closely with those in the Commission in relation to the respective rights of citizens in each other’s countries.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about dual British-Iranian citizens

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many people have dual British-Iranian citizenship; and of those, what estimate they have made of the number currently residing in Iran.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): Under UK law, there is no restriction on holding other passports so only the ‘relevant’ nationality to a case is generally captured in a analysable form.

Bishop of Manchester speaks in a debate on immigration and nationality

On 6th July 2022, the House of Lords discussed charges associated with processing citizenship cases involving children. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in the debate:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for giving us the opportunity to hold this short debate. The matters she raises are serious and require urgent address.

Greater Manchester—the Minister knows and loves it as much as I do—is a very diverse city region. Many of those who contribute to its flourishing and growth are families whose origins lie elsewhere. The children of those families enrich the life of our schools, including the 190-plus Church schools that educate over 60,000 children every day, often in the poorest communities. While these children rejoice in the distinctive heritage of their ancestral culture, and offer its riches to us, they are being brought up to be as British as I am. They know no other home. They are not immigrants—as the noble Baroness has said, we must not confuse the asserting of citizenship with immigration—they are British. They simply need to clarify that legally.

Ideally, I would not put a price on citizenship; it is far too precious. However, if a charge has to be made, it seems invidious to pitch it at a level where over half of the revenue is pure profit. Indeed, the profit levels might set the mouths watering of some of those who notoriously have milked our public coffers through the charges they have exacted for substandard PPE equipment—but perhaps that is for another day.

Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports amendment on citizenship

On 28th February 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in the first day of the report stage. The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Baroness D’Souza to remove clause 9 from the bill. Clause 9 would have, in limited cases, removed the existing requirement for the government to provide notification prior to removal of citizenship:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: Thank you. My Lords, I am grateful for the suggestion that the House might like to hear from the Lords spiritual. I support the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, which proposes that Clause 9 should not stand part of the Bill. We debated this at some length in Committee. It is somewhat disappointing that the Government have not taken the opportunity to reconsider more fully. I will not delay the House by repeating the arguments, but I will briefly speak about trust.

Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Durham speaks in support of amendments on children’s citizenship

During a debate on the Nationality and Borders Bill on 27th January 2022, the Bishop of Durham voiced his support for amendments to ensure that British Citizenship should not be withheld from a stateless child born in the UK:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I am trying to imagine how it could ever be in the best interests of a child born and raised in this country not to be given the right to be a citizen of this country. In what possible circumstances could we decide that it would be in the best interests of someone born and raised in this country to be decreed, at the age of 13 or 14, a citizen of another state? That is the situation. You could almost forget the 1961 convention, human rights and so on; we are simply talking about the best interests of the child. You can then back it up with all the international stuff on top. I support these amendments.

Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford questions increase of powers to remove citizenship

On 27th January 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in committee. The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in the debate, raising the issue of increased powers to remove citizenship within the bill, and whether these increases were necessary:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I am grateful to those noble Lords who have already spoken. It is heartening to hear voices from across the Committee raising concerns about the proposed powers in Clause 9. My contribution will be very short.

I can well imagine variants on our current conversation happening time and again, ever since the British Nationality Act 1981, which has already been referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, brought in deprivation of citizenship. Indeed, a look through Hansard would confirm that.

Since 1981, these deprivation powers have been amended and extended, including in 2003, 2006, 2014 and 2018. Each time, the rationale provided by the Government is the same: that these are relatively minor tweaks made for pragmatic reasons, with the security of the nation in mind, and that these powers will be used only in extreme circumstances, with great caution and restraint on the part of the Government. Yet it seems that these powers are never quite enough.

Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Durham & Bishop of Gloucester support amendment to costs for children’s citizenship applications

On 27th January 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in the first day of the committee stage. The Bishop of Gloucester, on behalf of the Bishop of Durham, spoke in support of an amendment to regulations around children’s citizenship, and administrative costs associated with citizenship applications:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I will speak on Amendment 13 on behalf of my noble friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham, who sadly cannot be in the House until later today. He wishes to declare his interests in relation to both RAMP and Reset, as set out in the register. The following words are his, but I will say that I wholeheartedly agree with every one of them.

My interest comes from my ongoing engagement in this House with issues concerning children and ensuring that their best interests are central to legislation. The Government should be doing everything they can to ensure that all children in the UK have the opportunity to thrive. We should be working to remove barriers that they may face in seeking to reach their full potential. The current British citizenship registration fees create a barrier for many children to being and feeling fully part of society.

Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford encourages alternative perspective on asylum seekers

On 5th January 2022, during a debate on the newly introduced Nationality and Borders Bill, the Bishop of Chelmsford made a speech advocating for the value of viewing asylum seekers as potential future citizens, and emphasized the importance of treating them with dignity and respect:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I must begin with an apology. As I am new to your Lordships’ House, there was an error in processing my request to speak, although I am grateful to the Whips for permission to interject at this point. It is a privilege to have been part of the debate and I look forward to following this Bill through and benefiting from the collective wisdom here.

I believe that I am among relatively few in the House who have experience of both sides of the asylum and refugee system, having first come to this country as a refugee from Iran in 1980. The plight of those fleeing violence and persecution and the difficulties in navigating identity and finding a new home are not abstract or intellectual propositions for me but part of who I am, and it is with that perspective that I offer some thoughts now.

Bishop of London asks Government about high cost of registering children as British citizens

On 19th October 2020 Lord Alton of Liverpool asked the Government “what estimate they have made of the costs of their decision to appeal the decision of the High Court on 19 December 2019 in Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens versus Home Office.” The Bishop of London asked a further question:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, the judgment in December 2019 highlighted that the Home Office application fee to register a British citizen was £1,012 for children, even though the Home Office estimated the cost of processing applications for registration as £372. Putting a financial barrier on being able to access one’s rights is a clear barrier to one’s access to justice. What assessment have Her Majesty’s Government made of the number of people whose rights are limited by the level of the fee that has been set? Continue reading “Bishop of London asks Government about high cost of registering children as British citizens”

Bishop of St Albans asks Government about speed of Windrush Compensation Scheme

On 24th June, the Bishop of St Albans asked a question following a Government statement on the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, we are all implicated in the conscious and unconscious bias which bedevils our society. It will change only if we all take responsibility to make that change come about. Due to the age of those who came on the “Windrush”, time is of the essence in gaining compensation. Some of them have already died. What specifically is being done to speed up the process? On the more general issue, what is the relationship between the various groups, such as this cross-government working group and the race equality commission, and is the Minister sure that these groups will complement each other and expedite matters rather than confuse them?

Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks Government about speed of Windrush Compensation Scheme”

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