Former Attorney General condemns Government for misquoting BNO legal advice and says Government can legally extend BNO rights
In a letter, publicly released on Monday morning, the Former Attorney General, Lord Peter Goldsmith QC, has written to the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary to attack the Government for misquoting his BNO legal advice, and to state that the UK can legally extend the right of BNO holders.
The Government have repeatedly misquoted Goldsmith's 2008 citizenship review as saying that it would be illegal under the terms of the Joint Declaration for the Government to extend the rights of BNO passports.
His letter clarifies that he never said this: 'I never intended my report on citizenship to be a statement by me that there would be a breach of the arrangements with China if the UK were to offer greater rights... In view of the misquoting of the original citizenship review... I decided to explore more thoroughly the question of what bearing the Memorandum has on the government's capacity to review the rights of BNO holders.'
He continues to say that 'the UK can extend full right of abode to BNO holders without breaching its side of the Joint Declaration'.
He also states that there is nothing to stop the UK extending the rights of BNO students: 'comments in the UK Memorandum which addresses the nationality issue are narrowly limited to the discussion of Right of Abode, and therefore have no bearing on other discussions about the right of BNO holders, such as whether it might be appropriate to make it easier for those on working holiday or student visas from Hong Kong to access indefinite leave to remain.'
When The Times reported that Raab and Patel had fallen out on BNO, it was reportedly Raab's view of the legal issue which led to him vetoing changes.
Goldsmith gave the government 10 days before publicising the letter in order to give time for a reply, but has not received anything in response.
On Tuesday 25 February, Alistair Carmichael MP, a patron of Hong Kong Watch will be introducing a bill calling for the extension of the right of abode to BNO passport holders to the House of Commons.
You can find a recent poll Hong Kong Watch conducted on public attitudes to BNO rights here.
Johnny Patterson, Director of Hong Kong Watch, said: "The publication of this legal advice is a significant moment in the debate about the extension of BNO rights. The UK Government have justified their failure to take action to extend the rights of British Nationals (Overseas) on the basis of Goldsmith's citizenship review. Today he shows their interpretation of that review is wrong, and therefore there is no legal barrier to reform."