My Lords, I thank noble Lords who have taken part in this brief debate. I can reassure everyone, including my noble friend with three passports, that this is in no sense directed against dual or triple passport holders, or against having several passports. As the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, pointed out, it is narrowly intended that those who are being given British citizenship should be required to disclose details of other passports that they hold. Of course it is enforceable and recordable. If you apply for anything, be it a passport, a driving licence or an insurance policy, and you tell lies about it, you are subject to sanctions. If somebody deliberately conceals that they have another passport when they are asked and required by law to declare it, it is not unreasonable for there to be a sanction. Potentially, this would be the removal or cancellation of the existing British passport. That seems to be perfectly sensible.
I have had other parliamentary answers in which it is made quite clear that the Government do not have the slightest idea how many British passport holders have other passports. That is a serious gap in their information. We have to tackle it. I realise that we cannot make a decision tonight, but I hope that the Government will inquire properly into this. I look forward to hearing in more detail from the noble Lord, in writing, about the points that I have made in this debate. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment 27 withdrawn.
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Marlesford
(Conservative)
in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 25 March 2009.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL].
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
709 c742-3 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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2024-04-21 10:25:15 +0100
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