Republic of Ireland: British Passports

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

My Lords, I too welcome the Minister to his new position. I know that he is also a local councillor at Gedling Borough Council, so he will be well used to the cut and thrust of debate across the Chamber.

We are sympathetic to the concerns raised by the noble Lord, Lord Hay. We too believe that the Government seem unnecessarily inflexible on this matter. I shall also speak relatively briefly on some of the points raised today and in the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. That cross-party committee, chaired of course by the Conservative Party, recommended, first, that the naturalisation fee charged to Irish applicants who wish to naturalise as British citizens be abolished altogether. Secondly, it recommended that the requirement for Irish citizens to pass a “Life in the UK” test be waived. Thirdly, it recommended that attendance at the citizenship ceremony should be optional.

Could the Minister explain to the House why each of those recommendations in turn is not being accepted by the Government, and why the Government have not taken the generality of the recommendations forward? On the question of the fee, which is £1,300, how much is the actual administrative cost to the Home Office and how much is a fee on top of that? What is the actual administrative cost of processing the applications? On the “Life in the UK” test, is there a point at which the Minister considers that it may not be necessary—after 20, 30 or 40 years? Surely, at some point that test would not be necessary. How many people do the Government estimate will be impacted? We have heard from the noble Lord, Lord Rogan, that it may be 40,000, a figure the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, also referred to. Could the Minister confirm the figure?

Finally, in the Westminster Hall debate earlier this month, on 18 October, Steve Baker, the House of Commons Minister, who I understand is still in his place —I certainly welcome that—said that he would reflect on the issues raised. What does that reflection look like in practice? What further discussions have been had by Northern Ireland Ministers, and with which stakeholders, since the issue was raised in Parliament?

For some people this is a minor matter, but for the people concerned it is extremely important. An expression of good will could have ramifications on other, far more important matters, if I can put it like that, such as the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill that we were talking about last night. There is an opportunity here for a gesture of good will, and I hope that the Government will take up that opportunity.