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ISI Fighter Shamima Begum Not allowed to return to the UK

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    The Mauser was 30mm

    Why should I lie to you?

    The vulcan had a lot of Barrels, it kept the punters happy. I had little interest in it, I was just one of the team for those trials. It would keep the number crunchers happy I suppose, but getting sensible data via instrumentation or even high speed camera techniques would be impractical.

    I assume they were used on shipping or land based mounts. Somehow finding that One had a bit of wear in the barrels in an aircraft could be bad for the nerves.

    For someone that is taken by the Telegraph, you seem remarkably keen on truth.

    At what point did I ever mention the projjie size on the Vulcan? I could hardly recollect the name of the thing, in fact even the more interesting weapons, those that provided the most entertainment, I would have forgotten the make as soon as my work was completed. I have no idea what the make of the standard issue squaddie rifle thing was either. It was very plasticky. I recall handling them but not the reason for needing to.

    The most interesting problem I had apart from the Mauser was with a 0.22 rimfire, a veritable toy, I'm clueless as to what make that was too. It was a rifle.

    If you are one of those turned on by guns you may think details are important, they are not. Guns are tubes designed to guide nasty little projjies into blood vessels and bone destroying human bodies.


    Do you need to read the Telegraph or anything else? You seem to find it perfectly acceptable to make your own little stories up.

    So presumably the lack of evidence permitted for Begums "hearing" was a bit of a bonus, you and the Telegraph prefer your own?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,432 ✭✭✭mikethecop


    ha ha caught out again with the bs most people would stop digging . when your caught bluffing about one thing your credibility on others is effected

    did you see the link to the times ? with the same info



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    The criminal offence is being an armed terrorist. Being armed illegally is the offence.

    I’ve no idea why you have fixated on “allowed”, nor why you think that somehow mitigates guilt.

    Nobody said being allowed to in isolation was a crime. The crime is the act of doing it.

    The “allowed” is also evidence of her standing within ISIS, which is an offence. I can’t believe I had to explain after all these posts. Whoosh



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    I think the details are not relevant too. Which is interesting, because when people starting added irrelevant details to their posts. It’s usually an appeal to authority.

    And when they get those details wrong. (Such as mistakenly thinking the UK handles AKs).

    It’s pretty clear they were making it up. 🤥

    The most interesting problem I had apart from the Mauser was with a 0.22 rimfire, 

    The MoD were testing .22 rimfire along with the cannons? In case the UK was invaded by parachuting bunnies I guess



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,066 CMod ✭✭✭✭Ten of Swords


    Mod - Back on topic please



  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    We tested everything.

    We even tested an air rifle for the police force who obviously deemed it necessary to define the characteristics of a weapon that I somehow doubt was police issue.

    The mere point of mentioning my job was that it had similarities with the Telegraph reported rubbish inasmuch as myself along with many more colleagues being allowed to carry weapons including an AK47 if one was held.

    There is life outside the confines of your experience and what the Telegraph tells you. In fact I notice today it's reported that the rubbish has done an about turn on Brexit. Orwells Ministry of Truth could not do better.

    As I worked in an MOD NAMAS accredited lab on a site dedicated to proof & experimentation of weaponry, then anything requiring testing back to NPL standards came to us. The calibration gear was all sub standard or traceable.

    If you apply a small degree of thought you would realise that when equipping a defence force, you need to define precisely what you are up against in given situations. You trade off the parameters used to slaughter people against weight or length I suppose. Working out what an enemies weapon is capable of in all conditions of temperature and humidity from desert to arctic is not something you can send a squaddie off to investigate, strangely enough those that test them for home use don't like sharing the information either.

    Frankly I have not the slightest interest in the garbage, but guns keep a lot of weak individuals very happy indeed.

    Stick to the Telegraph if you find it more believable. It's other little gem being reported this morning is Sunak an unelected British PM who was originally second choice to the worst MP in British history, is complaining that Britains democracy is under threat.

    I don't read the garbage, but I do get the shortened form of what the UK gutter press pushes.

    Stick to your fairy stories if you wish, but eventually human rights get to win out in the UK for most. It does cost the taxpayer rather a lot, but what else have they to spend the money on?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    when at any stage did I mention be telegraph? More lies. I’m simply pointing your Walter Mitty tales are nonsense.

    You’ve never carried or had permission to carry an AK47. That is a fact. You didn’t test an AK47 for the MOD. As you subsequently admitted.


    And the really relevant part. Anyone with permission to test firearms for the government/military, does so legally. That’s has no parallel with carrying assault rifles as part of a terrorist group. It in no way justify an armed terrorist, and suggest it is somehow mitigating is, the height of idiocy.

    Being armed as part of ISIS is absolutely illegal. Trying to excuse it is pretty pathetic.


    I don't read the garbage in the Telegraph”

    “This is being reported on the Telegraph this morning”

    Hmmm, sounds like you read the Telegraph this morning.



  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    You see you don't really care for facts do you?

    We arrived at this point due to the wording of the Telegraph report, if you are looking at derivatives of the reasons the wording is irrelevant, then you fail to grasp the situation totally.

    The original report was quoted as being allowed to carry an AK47, if the report changed that to the act of carrying one then it puts a totally different meaning on what the reporter was communicating, although again in itself it means nothing to those that think through what's in the papers, because carrying one may not be indicative of any kind of crime. That's basically why in the UK they have courts to test the evidence, even your Telegraph isn't deemed the final authority.


    I don't read the rubbish, I explained that. "This being reported" has a considerable difference to "I read".

    Language is a tool, anyone can pick a tool up and make a total hash of things. English is no different as you seem to point out very enthusiastically.

    Believe what you wish, It's entirely up to you, but I have every confidence that like the Windrush victims things will at some point be reversed, the facts certainly suggest that will be the case, the facts that don't seen to bother those that find don't suit their sense of "justice".



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    It has nothing to do with the wording in the Telegraph. She is judged on her crimes, not the words in a paper.

    Whether the reporter said allowed to carry or carry has no bearing on her crime. Your entire argument is based on semantics of the phrase used, while turning a blind eye to her actions. Laughable.

    But continue to present your alternate reality where there may not have been crime and Shamima works for the MoD



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  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    If you followed the thread you would know full well what I was referring to.

    You entered into this I assume because of the Telegraph report, if not why respond to my interpretation?

    She was not judged on her crimes at all, she was not judged in a criminal court.

    If you want to involve yourself in a discussion, would you not think it's a good idea to know something about it or at least try to follow the pertinent points?

    I still fail to comprehend how someone can be stripped of her citizenship, when if she turned up on the south coast in a boat, she could claim asylum as many Syrians have done so far.

    I guess you don't know the answer either?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    I haven’t read the telegraph report , nor do I plan to. My entering the discussion had nothing to do with it. So the idiom about assumptions seems applicable to you there.

    I didn’t mention a criminal trial either. Any body with an opinion about n hers actions, must judge those actions for themselves. For somebody who tried to bring up English comprehension, you aren’t doing a very good job yourself.

    I still fail to comprehend how someone can be stripped of her citizenship, when if she turned up on the south coast in a boat, she could claim asylum as many Syrians have done so far.

    I guess you don't know the answer either?

    At least you acknowledge your failure to comprehend. But please don’t assume because you don’t understand, that others don’t.

    She cannot land from Syria and claim asylum, because she is not fleeing persecution (ironically she fled the UK to persecute others). And even if she was, people with serious criminal history, and/or who present a national security risk, are de jure excluded from refugee status



  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    Sorry, but I think you have missed a point or two.

    Thanks for trying though.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 911 ✭✭✭Norrie Rugger Head


    It doesn't matter!

    The law has to apply to everyone, equally, or it falls apart.

    It can be used as a weapon by a ruling party to squash dissent. It's the literal slippery slope argument

    They're eating the DOGS!!!

    Donald Trump 2024



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 911 ✭✭✭Norrie Rugger Head


    Just remember based on this decision there are 7 million britons who could have their UK citizenship revoked because they qualify for an Irish passport but never envoked it.

    That's one hell of a Pandora's box this case opens for anyone worried about an authoritarian government taking hold

    Post edited by Norrie Rugger Head on

    They're eating the DOGS!!!

    Donald Trump 2024



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Not really. You assumed I came due to the Telegraph. Incorrect. You claimed I referred to criminal judicial judgement. Also incorrect. And by your own admission, you didn't comprehend her potential asylum status. These is no missing point there. There is no ambiguity. You are simply trying a to distance yourself from your flaw arguments.

    It should of course course apply to everyone. However the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy, not a valid argument.

    7 million people who've ran off to join Isis that qualify for an Irish passport but never evoked it. That's not true.

    Suggesting they'll start revoking citizenship if people simply qualify for another passport is a ridiculous exaggeration. Ironically, that's also a literal slippery slope fallacy.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 911 ✭✭✭Norrie Rugger Head


    They have set precedent. It is now legal, in the UK, to do this. Of course the argument is valid.

    They've set a precedent and can do so again. They've massively weakened the legal safety of their immigrant citizens and their grandkids for any topic the HS of the day chooses.


    You apply the law equally yo your best and worst. That's how it works. They've changed that

    They're eating the DOGS!!!

    Donald Trump 2024



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,230 ✭✭✭✭end of the road


    it's actually not an exaggeration at all.

    the point isn't whether it will be done or not, but the fact it can be done, and yes, it can be done.

    I'm very highly educated. I know words, i have the best words, nobody has better words then me.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    What new legal precedent do you think this say set? Hundreds of British people have been stripped of citizenship over the course of history. The legal mechanism has existed in law for 50 years. How does her situation apply to a ranson law abiding citizen with an Irish granny?

    Claiming somebody citizenship could be stripped for no reason other that the fact that qualify for another citizenship is an exaggeration.

    Legally that cannot be done. The criteria to revoke a citizenship is significantly more arduous.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,230 ✭✭✭✭end of the road



    but that wasn't what was claimed.

    it's only you bringing up the idea that someone stated this.

    I'm very highly educated. I know words, i have the best words, nobody has better words then me.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Post above claimed based on this decision 7 million could have their UK citizenship revoked. I replied that figure is an exaggeration, as the decision was based on joining terrorist group, not the availability of a dual passport. I'd have though that was pretty obvious exaggeration.

    And you replied that "it's actually not an exaggeration at all". Now you're claiming the post you said was not an exaggeration, was not stated. 😂



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,798 ✭✭✭✭Boggles


    Legally that cannot be done. The criteria to revoke a citizenship is significantly more arduous.

    It isn't really. It's quite vague and now 2 courts now have confirmed completely up to the whim of the sitting Home Secretary who actually legally does not have to publish a reason for doing so.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Not having to publish a reason publicly isn’t the same as being able to do it without a reason (as was claimed).

    It’s outlined in the British Nationality Act 1981. Relevant section below, 4A. There’s various criteria and conditions. This is not a new precedent.

    Saying 7m people could have their citizenship removed is scaremongering. They would not meet the criteria.

    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/section/40



  • Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    Not really. They apply the law in the way they want to who they want.


    Those wanting Post Office Managers jailed are exempt from the needs to supply evidence of a crime.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,798 ✭✭✭✭Boggles




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Of course, laws get updated all the time. I don’t see the relevance to my post tbh.

    I linked to the current version of the act, as amended in 2023. Which is in the version that applies in this case.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,230 ✭✭✭✭end of the road



    they would if the home secretry decided they were a threat to national security.

    I'm very highly educated. I know words, i have the best words, nobody has better words then me.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    And 7m people eligible for Irish passports are not threat to national security, hence why is a ridiculous exaggeration. This is not complicated.

    And that ability is outlined in law, the ability or one similar has existed for some time. It not a new precedent.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,230 ✭✭✭✭end of the road



    they are if the home secretry decides they are.

    I'm very highly educated. I know words, i have the best words, nobody has better words then me.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,432 ✭✭✭mikethecop




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Which is the case for 100m+ British citizens. This case changes nothing.

    And Which he hasn’t and won’t be doing. Hence why it’s exaggeration. not sure why you’re struggling with that.

    We’re talking about reality, not a hypothetical dystopia. When you’re ready to take your meds and come back to reality let us know.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,230 ✭✭✭✭end of the road



    you don't know that he won't do it.

    many things which were thought to be hypothetical became reality.

    I'm very highly educated. I know words, i have the best words, nobody has better words then me.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,771 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Nitpick: there aren't a hundred million plus British citizens.

    But, even if there were, this wouldn't be the case for most of them. If you're a British Citizen by birth or descent, the Home Secretary cannot deprive you of your citizenship unless he considers that you have, or have access to, some other citizenship.

    Thus the UK has two classes of British Citizen — those who can be deprived of British Citizenship by order of the Home Secretary, and those who cannot. The former group is a mixed bag, but it will include, among others:

    • British Citizens born in Northern Ireland (entitled to Irish citizenship);
    • a large number of British Citizens who have a parent, or in some cases a grandparent, born outside Great Britain (if, as a result, they have, or have access to, the citizenship of their country of ancestry);
    • British Citizens who are Jews or who have have a Jewish parent or grandparent (entitled to Israeli citizenship).

    (It doesn't take a genius to work out that the first-class citizens, whose descent for the past two generations has been purely in Great Britain, will be overwhelmingly White British, while the second-class citizens will be a more ethnically diverse group. So that's all right, then.)

    Fun fact: The current Home Secretary is himself a second-class citizen — he is entitled to citizenship of Sierra Leone through his mother, who was born there. The Prime Minister is also a second-class citizen. But the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are both first-class citizens.

    Post edited by Peregrinus on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,703 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    Are you sure this part is entirely accurate:

    the Home Secretary cannot deprive you of your citizenship unless he considers that you have, or have access to, some other citizenship.

    I thought it was the case that the UK had argued that Begum, rather than merely having access to Bangladeshi citizenship, was in fact a Bangladeshi citizen.

    The argument that she 'has access to it' implies that she does not actually have it, and I don't see how that could be squared with international law about not rendering somebody stateless.


    "Someone who was born British and has no other nationality cannot be deprived of their citizenship in any circumstances."

    https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06820/



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,798 ✭✭✭✭Boggles


    She technically could become a citizen of Bangladesh before she turned 21, but it would have to involved her travelling there. Although the Bangladesh Minister disputes this.

    The Bangladeshi authorities said she would be executed if she came near the place any, so it didn't really matter.

    The horror in that is Javid knew this and stated it to the court.

    So technically lawful in what he did, the net effect was always going to be statelessness. He in full knowledge made a victim of child grooming stateless. Tories gonna Tory!!!

    The Judges who have ruled on this so far have all sounded the alarms, but were only charged with looking at the lawful remit of the Home Secretary.

    The OP is very much correct in stating that Britain has 2 classes of citizen.

    It's an absolute fact and an extremely dangerous precedent going forward.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    It's an infinitesimal possibility. This case hasn't made it more likely, and it hasn't change the legal means for it to happen. So, the claim that it's now could happen because if the case is still incorrect.

    Agree that’s nitpicking 😁.

    I was pulling out a random estimate. Whether it’s precise or not doesn’t really change the point. But I’d be surprised if was not close 100m. Do you have an accurate number? Or why do you think it’s not 100m, Out of curiosity?

    But, even if there were, this wouldn't be the case for most of them. If you're a British Citizen by birth or descent, the Home Secretary cannot deprive you of your citizenship unless he considers that you have, or have access to, some other citizenship.

    The above is paraphrasing, from the Act I linked to. It lists the exceptions were the Home Secretary can make a person stateless. ie Were they are naturalised, were they are eligible to be a citizen of another country.

    But you are forgetting there is another clause under that section. That allows somebody to be stripped, where it is conducive to the public good. Which is really the situation here.

    So, with that in mind, it does in fact apply to all British citizens. Any one of them could be stripped "if the home secretary decided they were a threat to national security", as per the above. Like I said, suggesting that could now happen on the back this case, is a ridiculous exaggeration. This does not make it more likely to happen, nor does it create a legal pathway. As I said, it already existed.

    (4)The Secretary of State may not make an order under subsection (2) if he is satisfied that the order would make a person stateless.


    (4A) But that does not prevent the Secretary of State from making an order under subsection (2) to deprive a person of a citizenship status if—


    (a)

    the citizenship status results from the person's naturalisation,


    (b)

    the Secretary of State is satisfied that the deprivation is conducive to the public good because the person, while having that citizenship status, has conducted him or herself in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom, any of the Islands, or any British overseas territory, and


    (c)

    the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able, under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, to become a national of such a country or territory.]



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,703 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    For him to be technically lawful in what he did, would he not have had to make the argument that she was a Bangladeshi citizen, not just that she had entitlement to it.

    This is what has always confused me about the judgement - a few days after the original decision, the Bangladeshi govt said she wasn't one. That seems to have been disregarded, and a contorded idea of 'theoretical citizenship' has been conjured up.



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 27,465 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    The "and" at the end of clause (b) makes it clear that the person must fulfil all three criteria.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,771 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Hi Mellor

    Number: SFAIK there is no official count of British citizens. The population of the UK is 67 million; not all of them are British Citizens. It has been estimate that there are about 5 million non-citizen migrants living in the UK; that would suggest 62 million British citizens living in the UK. Add to that British citizens who were born in the UK but no longer live there, or who were born abroad to a British citizen born in the UK. There's no official estimate of that, SFAIK, but if you wanted to estimate the number of British citizens to the nearest 10 million, I'd say 70 million would be your safest guess.

    Deprivation of citizenship: Under the legislation, as regards deprivation on the (rather vague) "conducive to the public good" ground, the position is slightly differen for (a) British citizens by birth or registration, and (b) British citizens by naturalisation.

    The Home Secretary can deprive any British citizen (by birth; by descent; by naturalisation) so long as he is satisfied that (1) depriving you is conducive to the public good (British Nationality Act 1981 s. 40(2)), and (2) this will not make you stateless (s. 40(4)).

    But if you're a citizen by naturalisation, the Home Secretary can deprive you even if that would make you stateless (s. 40(4A)), so long as (1) he is satisfied that you have conducted yourself in a manner that is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK, and (2) he has "reasonable grounds" for believing that you are able, under the law of another country, to become a national of that country. (Having "reasonable grounds for believing" something is a lower standard than being "satisfied" as to something.)

    Shamima Begum was a citizen by birth (as are all the other people I mentioned in my earlier post, and as are the great majority of British citizens), so we are not really concerned here about the extended standards for depriving naturalised citizens. "Stateless" isn't defined in the British Nationality Act or, so far as I can find, anywhere else in UK legislation, but the UK government considers you to be "stateless" if (a) you're not a citizen of any other country and (b) you're unable to live permanently in any other country. Thus if you have the right to obtain citizenship (or indeed permanent residence) of another country you're not "stateless" so far as the UK is concerned, and the Home Secretary can deprive you of British citizenhip. The Home Secretary was evidently satisfied that Begum had such a right.

    But, as pointed out, a great many British citizens have such a right - many millions of British citizens either have or are entitled to obtain another citizenship, never mind those who have or are entitled to permanent residence in another country. The Home Secretary can deprive any or all of them, if he is satisfied that doing so is conducive to the public good. (He does not have to be satisfied that they have conducted themselves in a manner seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK; that test only applies if he wants to make a naturalised citizen stateless.)

    So I don't think it's an overstatement to say that there are two classes of British citizens - those who cannot be deprived because that would make them stateless, and those who can be deprived (on extremely broad, vague grounds). And it's certainly true to say that there will be a marked ethnic distinction between the two classes.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Good point, at the very least, it's B and C. It's a little unclear regarding A imo. Would be clearer is the and/or was stated rather than implied. But doesn't change B part, that clear. But none the less, that is the situation in law not based on the precedent of tis case, and rambling about the Home Secretary stripping all entitled to irish passports is still an ridiculous exaggeration. Nonsensical slippery slope argument.

    I fully agree that there are tiers to the protection afforded. And those tiers are indirectly linked to ethnicity. I'm not suggest that's ok, or anything else. My point was that worrying about entire diasporas being deprived is ridiculous, even via the purposefully vague "conducive to the public good".

    Regarding the citizenship status number. As I said, 100m was a finger in the air number. It might not be that high, but the figure is higher than the population. I'd also be surprised if the number was not recorded somewhere. I'm aware the population is partially non-citizen. But that is countered by at millions British Nationals living aboard. I think you are underestimating how may there are.

    It's not just UK born British born living aboard (5.5m in 2006, higher now). But at least as many again in offspring. Then the nationals left over from the colony days. There are 3m in Hong Kong alone. All the British territories. And in terms of the application of s. 40(1), technically it applies to the citizens of Ireland too, who have special status as British Subjects. In 2005 there were 13m British Nationals abroad. That has to be higher now. Maybe 18-20m. 80m might be a better guess. The exact number is not important, its hard to estimate. Even Ireland with a smaller population, single class of national, seems unknown how many irish citizens there are globally. Although significantly more than the population for sure.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,771 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    On the citizenship numbers — the UK has multiple different kinds and classes of citizens, and they keep changing them. You've got your British Citizens; your British Overseas Citizens; your British Overseas Territories Citizens; your British Nationals (Overseas); your British Subjects; your British Protected Persons.

    The only UK citizenship status that really counts for much is British Citizen status; that carries with it a right of entry to, and a right of abode in, the UK. Oversimplifying a bit, to get British Citizen status you need to be born in the UK, or have a parent who was.

    The other statuses are relics of empire. You get them by having an association with a present or former British colony/territory/possession. They carry limited rights, and in particular typically do not carry a right of abode in the UK.

    Those born in Hong Kong, by way of example, are not British Citizens. If born before 1997, they are British Nationals (Overseas) — unless they have no Chinese ancestry, in which case they had a one-off chance in 1997 to upgrade to British Citizen status. Birth in Hong Kong after 1997 does not result in any kind of UK citizenship. British Nationals (Overseas) are entitled to BN(O) passports but relatively few apply for one, because they are not much use; few countries accept BN(O) passports because, if you want to deport a BN(O) passport holder, there is no guarantee that the UK will recieve them. Hong Kongers therefore mostly travel on Chinese passports, which are much more acceptable internationally. BN(O) status is not heritable; the children of a BN(O) do not qualify for any kind of UK citizenship and the status will eventually die out when the last Hong Konger born before 1997 dies.

    So, the notion of multiple classes of citizenship with varying levels of rights is not a novelty for the UK; it's pretty much baked into the system. My estimate of 70 million is just for British Citizens. I'm not aware of any estimates for the numbers in other UK citizenship classes — probably because nobody cares very much; the other UK citizenship classes are not very signficant in terms of rights or obligations, so the number of people in each class is not very important, even to the UK. Several of the lesser UK citizenship statuses are closed to new entrants, and are not heritable, so they are getting smaller and smaller over time as the existing holders die off.

    As for "rambling about the Home Secretary stripping all those entitled to Irish passports" — I haven't done that. I have just pointed out that he can, if he thinks it would be "conducive to the public good", strip British Citizenship from anyone who is entitled to an Irish (or any other non-British) passport.

    And, your mileage may vary, but I think if your citizenship can be removed from you at the whim of the executive, that's a pretty signficant limitation on your citizenship. I think it certainly justifies the claim that your citizenship is second-class, when compared with someone over whom the Home Secretary has no such power.

    (Fun fact: British Subject status is available to people born in Ireland or India before 1949 who do not hold citizenship of any Commonwealth country. As India is itself a Commonwealth country there are very few British subjects by virtue of birth in India. Nearly all remaining British subjects are Irish, and they are all at least 75 years old, so the category is nearly extinct. Even now the status is more or less useless, since most of its holders enjoy greater rights in the UK as Irish citizens than they do as British Subjects.)

    Post edited by Peregrinus on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,658 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    I’m aware of the different citizenship statuses. I referenced them intentionally.

    You’ll notice I said “… 13m British Nationals abroad“. British Nationals being the collective term for those with one of those citizenship status.

    I also referenced S. 40(1) of the Act we were discussing, which is pretty clear

    (1) In this section a reference to a person’s “ citizenship status ” is a reference to his status as— 

    (a) a British citizen,

    (b)a British overseas territories citizen,

    (c)a British Overseas citizen,

    (d)a British National (Overseas),

    (e)a British protected person, or

    (f)a British subject.

    My ballpark figure was high. But in the context of my post, I was obviously refer the (a) to (f) collectively. But comfortable enough with at least 80m on revision.

    For (a) citizens proper. I’d guess closer to 75m than 70. But Id say that’s the range.

    As for "rambling about the Home Secretary stripping all those entitled to Irish passports" — I haven't done that

    That wasn’t direct at you. 😉

    I also haven’t disputed that the Home Secretary could do it. I dispute that its possible due to this case (rather than the law above) - and not in any shape a concern



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,798 ✭✭✭✭Boggles


    The SIAC determined she had citizenship through her parents up until the age of 21.

    From my reading of the ruling and the appeal.

    As long as the Home Secretary was aware that she would struggle to obtain citizenship elsewhere and it was considered, that made it lawful.

    Basically, she was a citizen of another country at the time of the judgement, tough shít if she couldn't take it up and became stateless at a later date. Not the Home Secretaries fault.

    It really is near absolute power.

    The courts can do nothing.

    Her only hope from my reading of of it, is political.

    A labour Home Secretary maybe.

    Although I think Starmer has flip flopped on the issue.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,771 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    The estimate of 13 million British nationals living overseas dates from 2005 and, as pointed out, most categories of British National are declining, because they are closed to new entrants. So I would think the number of British Nationals (other than British Citizens) is considerably smaller now that it was in 2005. Unless there has been substantial emigration of British Citizens from the UK since 2005, more than enough to offset the fall in numbers of other British Nationals, the total number of British nationals living overseas is more likely to have fallen since 2005 than risen.

    Given all that, I think it's hard to get from 62 million British citizens living in the UK to 80 millliion British nationals in total. That requires there to be 18 million British citizens and other British nationals living outside the UK, and I really don't see where that would be coming from.

    So, I'll stick with my 70 million (to the nearest 10 million) estimate. But I won't fall out with you over it.

    I agree with you that this case doesn't change the Home Secretary's powers; it just draws attention to them. But the powers that it draws attention to are very, very sweeping powers, and they cover many millions of British Citizens (and British nationals) whose circumstances are not remotely similar to Shamima Begum's.

    The occasions on which the Home Secretary actually exercises his citizenship deprivation powers are not numbered in the millions, but they are numbered in the thousands; this power is exercised far more often than people realise. More than 300 citizenship deprivation orders were made in 2022; the 2023 figures are not yet available.

    One other point is worth noting. The Home Secretary does have a less drastic alternative to cancelling someone's citizenship, which is simply to withdraw their passport. (And he can do this to anyone, whether or not they are a dual citizen.) This prevents them from travelling abroad, but doesn't deprive them of the other rights of citizenship. But in fact he does this very rarely; there are about 10 times as many citizenship deprivation orders made as there are passports withdrawn. That might suggest that the policy is to default to the most extreme sanction.

    Post edited by Peregrinus on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,703 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    Basically, she was a citizen of another country at the time of the judgement, tough shít if she couldn't take it up and became stateless at a later date. Not the Home Secretaries fault.

    If she was a citizen of another country at the time of the judgement, then she wouldn't need to 'take it up'. Even the wording 'take it up' indicates that she had a right to citizenship, but had not yet exercised that right.

    It seems to me that the UK got over the 'cannot render somebody stateless' hurdle by arguing that as she had a right (an unexercised right) to Bangladeshi citizenship, then removing her UK citizenship wasn't really rendering her stateless...or at least, only temporarily.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,771 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    That is pretty much the argument the Home Secretary ran.

    Basically, he pointed to a provision of Bangladeshi law under which Begum, as the child born abroad of Bangladeshi citizens, could opt to become a Bangladeshi citizen at any time up to attaining age 21. When he made the order depriving her of British citizenship, she was only 19. He argued that he was satisfied that this didn't make her "stateless" because she could become a Bangledeshi citizen, not because she was a Bangladeshi citizen.

    The right to Bangladeshi citizenship was perhaps more theoretical than real, given that the Bangladeshi government said at the time that they wouldn't allow her to become a citizen and that if she came to Bangladesh they would hang her. There was obviously a risk that, if she did successfully assert her right to Bangladeshi citizenship, the Syrians — who want her even less than the UK does — would deport her to Bangladesh, there to be hanged. Doubtless motivated at least in part by these reasons, she did not opt to take up Bangladeshi citzenship. As she is now over 21, she no longer has even the theoretical option. She is now unquestionably stateless, and will remain so unless she succeeds in overturning the deprivation order.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,798 ✭✭✭✭Boggles


    The Home Secretary was fully aware in reality that removing her citizenship would render her stateless.

    Under his powers as long as he was aware of the ramifications it was legal.

    Which is rather bonkers.



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