In order to protect this country, the Home Secretary has the power to deprive someone of their British citizenship where it would not render them stateless. This power has been in place for more than a hundred years and has been used by successive Home Secretaries. I would like to assure you that any decision to deprive an individual of their citizenship is only used in exceptional circumstances where there is a significant threat to the public, such as from a terrorist, and based on all available evidence, including secret intelligence, with a right to appeal – I fully support the ability for the Home Secretary to deprive citizenship on these grounds. Therefore, if you have not partaken in any of the above activities then you have no need to worry about your citizenship being revoked.
The Nationality and Borders Bill will amend the law in order to allow the deprivation of citizenship where it is not practicable to provide notice. This could be in a case where there is no way of communicating with the individual, for example if they are in a war zone. The Bill does not give the government power to unilaterally remove British citizenship – all current procedures must be followed and there is still recourse to appeal, it simply changes whether written notice is given or not.
It is vital for national security that the powers of the Home Secretary are effective and I support the Government in ensuring that this is the case.
DS.