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ISSUES: Citizenship
Chapter 1: Citizenship in the UK
Rights as a British subject
You can:
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hold a British passport
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get
consular
assistance
and
protection fromUKdiplomaticposts.
However, you:
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are usually subject to immigration
controls and don’t have the
automatic right to live or work in the
UK (there are only rare exceptions to
this)
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aren’t considered a UK national by
the European Union (EU).
Becoming a British subject
Stateless people
Youmay sometimes be able to register as
a British subject if:
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you’re stateless (not recognised by
any country as having a nationality)
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you were born outside the UK or
British overseas territories on or after
1 January 1983.
You must meet certain conditions. Read
the guidance notes before you apply
using Form S2.
Children
A child under 18 can be registered as a
British subject in special circumstances.
Becoming a citizen of another
country
Since 1 January 1983 anyone gaining
citizenship of any other country can’t
be a British subject, unless they’re also a
citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
23 September 2016
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The above information is reprinted
with kind permission fromGOV.UK.
©Crown copyright 2017
British values oath proposed by Sajid Javid
By Chris York
E
very public office-holder may have to swear an
oath of allegiance to British values, Communities
Secretary Sajid Javid has signalled.
The loyalty pledge would be expected to cover elected
officials, civil servants and council workers.
Javid’s proposal comes in response to a report on social
cohesion by Dame Louise Casey, which warned some
sections of society did not accept British values such as
tolerance.
He said he was “drawn” to Dame Louise’s recommendation
to bring in an oath of allegiance because it was impossible
for people to play a “positive role” in public life unless they
accepted basic values like democracy and equality.
Writing in
The Sunday Times
, Mr Javid said: “If we are going
to challenge such attitudes, civic and political leaders have
to lead by example.
“We can’t expect new arrivals to embrace British values if
those of us who are already here don’t do so ourselves, and
such an oath would go a long way to making that happen.”
Mr Javid said his aim was not to create a “government-
approved one size fits all identity” where everybody listens
to the Last Night of the Proms, but “without common
building blocks of our society, you’ll struggle to play a
positive role in British life”.
The oath could include phrases such as “tolerating the
views of others even if you disagree with them”, as well
as “believing in freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom from abuse... a belief in equality, democracy and
the democratic process” and “respect for the law, even if
you think the law is an ass”.
Mr Javid also wants all migrants to swear an oath of
allegiance, not just those seeking UK citizenship,
The
Sunday Times
said.
Dame Louise’s report warned the country was becoming
more divided as it became more diverse and highlighted
that in some communities women were the subject of
“abuse and unequal treatment of women enacted in the
name of cultural or religious values”.
In her report she acknowledged that elements would be
“hard to read”, particularly for Muslim communities which
already felt under pressure, but she said the country had to
face up to “uncomfortable” problems.
The review recommended that schoolchildren should
be taught “British values” of tolerance, democracy and
respect to help bind communities together amid growing
“ethnic segregation”.
The review was originally commissioned by then prime
minister David Cameron in 2015 as part of a wider strategy
to tackle the “poison” of Islamic extremism.
It found that while Britain had benefited hugely from
immigration and the increased ethnic and religious
diversity it had brought, there had not been sufficient
emphasis on integration.
18 December 2016
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The above information is reprinted with kind
permission from The Huffington Post UK. Please visit
for further information.
© 2017 AOL (UK) Limited
“Every public office-holder may have
to swear an oath of allegiance to
British values”
