Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

The broadness of the amendment is in contrast to the narrowness of the debate and the contributions made, which have been, to a large degree, about the issue of refugees, to which I shall return. One of the key principles of our proposals is that anyone who wishes to remain here permanently and become a British citizen must obey the laws, and those are not limited to those who commit criminal acts. We also say that such people should have relevant leave or entitlement to be here; those who do not should not be allowed to become a British citizen. This reinforces the fact that, as well as from the public, we have a right to demand the highest of standards from those who wish to remain here. It has been a long-standing requirement that a person must not be in breach of immigration laws. This is contained in existing criteria for naturalisation. It is worth mentioning here what it means to be in breach of immigration law. It applies to people who do not have a right of abode, do not have leave to enter or remain, do not have an entitlement to reside under the 2006 EEA regulations, do not fall under Section 8(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 for crew members and do not benefit from an exemption under Sections 8(2) to 8(4) of the same Act. We retain the discretion in Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981 to treat an applicant for naturalisation as fulfilling the requirement to not have been at any time in breach of immigration law, even though they may have been. I turn now to the narrower points covered also in Amendment 61B. On the question of language, the amendment would not add anything to the situation that exists. There is already an ability in paragraph 2(e) of Schedule 1 to waive the English language requirement if, because of the applicant’s age or physical or mental condition, it would be unreasonable to expect him or her to meet the requirements.