My new website/blog: Campaign for Citizenship Equality

Please support my Campaign for Citizenship Equality.

I'm eligible for British citizenship by descent but refuse to apply because of unfair conditions.

I have set up a new website to address the ongoing inequality regarding the right to claim unconditional British citizenship by anyone with a British parent.


http://britishbydescent.wordpress.com/

and a blog

You can follow my campaign on Twitter too:

https://twitter.com/BritbyDescent

Good news regarding British citizenship for children born abroad to British mothers!

When I was on Twitter today, I noticed some new 'tweets' (posts) from Harriet Harman and was stunned to read these particular messages:

Talked to the Home Sec. We are going to scrap registration fee for nationality for British via mother from next year. Sweet tweet success

Equality Bill through the House of Lords. Great milestone for further progress on equality.

To say I am very pleased would be an understatement! I have been campaigning on twitter quite extensively to get the unfair law changed regarding British citizenship for children born abroad to British mothers.

In particular, I've addressed tweets directly to Harriet Harman (she is not just the deputy PM but also the Minister for Women & Equality) asking her how she can justify the inequality in the Borders, Immigration & Citizenship Bill, and had several replies from her with assurances that she would "get on to it". I was hopeful that the inequality would finally be addressed but since she also told me she couldn't give me a timescale, I could only keep watch on the situation and wait and see what happened.

After reading the tweets from Ms Harman today, I am very confident now that we (the adult children born abroad to British mothers) will finally get the same automatic right to claim British citizenship that children of British fathers have always had. I'm not sure about the details - why Harriet Harman states "from next year" for example - but hopefully the necessary changes to the law are at least starting to be put in place.

This news is very good news indeed! Thank you to everyone for all your support in this campaign and particularly thanks to everyone who has signed the petition started by Mrs Elizabeth Peterson.

I will be keeping a close eye on how this change to the law progresses. This blatant inequality must be corrected and I'm not going to stop my campaign for citizenship equality until it is.

Edited to add:
It would appear that I was too hasty in making this announcement because in fact nothing has changed yet. While it's true that Harriet Harman did make a promise via Twitter, it doesn't look like any changes to the law were instigated. And now that we have a new government, I can only deduce that we have to start our campaign all over again for citizenship equality. I apologise if I raised anyone's hopes that this issue was resolved.

I am closing comments to this particular post now.

Please see this Related Post for latest news:
People born before 1983 to British mothers

Guardian's Liberty Clinic - query about British citizenship

From the Guardian's Liberty Clinic How can I be discriminated against because of my mother's gender? The actual question was: "How can the the Borders, Immigration & Citizenship Bill - with its gender and age discrimination - be legal?" The answer from Emma Norton, a legal officer at Liberty, is quite disappointing and not very helpful or encouraging. And she had the gall to brag about how "Liberty welcomed this change in the law which removed this historic discrimination against those who wished to claim citizenship through their mother." The law has been amended but the discrimination has not been removed! We (the children born abroad to British mothers) finally are eligible to apply for British citizenship but it means we "have a right to register as a British citizen" and we have to pay £540 , and attend a citizenship ceremony before we can claim our British citizenship by descent! Liberty is also known as the National Council for Civil Liberties. Founded in 1934, we are a cross party, non-party membership organisation at the heart of the movement for fundamental rights and freedoms in England and Wales. We promote the values of individual human dignity, equal treatment and fairness as the foundations of a democratic society. Well, I certainly don't consider this very unfair path to citizenship with its conditions (registration, fee and ceremony) to be equal treatment or fair! The comments following Ms Norton's reply are very interesting. I suggest everyone reads the comments if they want to understand exactly why this issue of inequality regarding British citizenship is so very unfair. The MPs are guilty of passing a blatantly discriminatory Bill for passage into law. They should all be very ashamed.

An Open Letter to my Readers

Dear Readers, I am asking for your help in an important matter regarding British Citizenship which affects me (and many others in the same situation). This past summer (July) the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, was passed through Parliament and approved for implementation in 2010. A small but vital part of the Bill was regarding an amendment to the law to give British nationality to people born before February 1961 whose mothers were born in the UK. Up until 2002, if you had a British father, you got a right to citizenship, but not if you had a British mother. In 2002, they changed that law, but they only backdated it to 1961. This latest law amends that inequality but it still discriminates! My mother is English and I was born in the USA before 1961. While it's true that the law regarding children born abroad to British mothers before 1961 was amended, it continues to discriminate because I will have to register and pay a fee of £540 plus attend a citizenship ceremony before I can claim my British Citizenship by descent. However, if my father had been British, I could claim my British Citizenship by descent without registration, without the ceremony and without the exhorbitant fee. Why shouldn't my British mother be able to pass on her citizenship the same way British fathers can?! The amended law still discriminates!! How can you help? Two very easy ways: 1. If you are British or you live in the UK, please sign this petition to: stop the gender and age discrimination in the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/UKmothers/ We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop the gender and age discrimination in the Borders, Immigration & Citizenship Bill which does not allow UK mothers to pass on their citizenship to their children regardless of where or when they were born.. The Borders, Immigration & Citizenship Bill requires all those born abroad to a UK mother prior to 1983 to register with the UKBA and pay an exorbitant fee (presently in excess of £500) before they can apply for a UK passport. Anyone born in the same circumstances after 1983 or at anytime to a UK father can simply complete a passport application without the need to register. The registration/fee is required regardless of country of residence so that even someone who has lived in the UK for most of their lives, is a taxpayer, a home owner and has known no other country, still has to register and pay the fee. 2. Tell everyone about the petition. Please help spread the word via blogs, forums, twitter, facebook, etc. The more publicity the better. Please help me (and others like me in the same situation) by signing the petition. Thank you very much to everyone for your support. Kind regards to all my readers, Maureen P.S. An important reminder regarding the petition to No 10: You must give your name, address (which will not be published) and your email address. You will receive an email - click link to confirm. You must click the link in the email from the Number 10 Petitions system to confirm your signature on the petition or your name won't show!

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill

I've been glued to the TV this afternoon and evening watching the MPs as they are discussing amendments to the the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill. The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill transfers 4,500 HM Revenue and Customs officers to the UK Borders Agency and introduces a requirement for immigrants to earn British citizenship. It's also making important changes in the law to give British nationality to people born before February 1961 whose mothers were born in the UK. This is the part of the bill that will directly affect me since my mother is British and I was born in the USA before 1961: Children of British mothers - proposed changes to law on citizenship A person who has a British mother currently has a right to register as a British citizen under section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981 if: he or she was born between 7 February 1961 and 1 January 1983; and he or she would have become a British citizen if women had been able to pass on citizenship in the same way as men at that time. The Government has proposed changes to the law, to allow people born before the 1961 date to British mothers to be registered as British citizens. These proposals are set out in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill which is currently being debated in Parliament. If successful, this Bill will extend the provisions of section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981 to those born before 1961. This amendment should correct this discriminatory law, however in reality, it doesn't since there is a registration fee of £540 to claim my British citizenship by descent. If my father had been British and/or I was younger, I would automatically have been granted my British citizenship (without paying a fee) so why should I have to now pay a fee to claim what should be my right? The bill is very convoluted with a lot of different issues, not just the particular one that I'm concerned about. The bill is so huge that it should have been divided up into separate bills. And there should be much more time allowed to discuss each point properly, rather than trying to rush through the reading in one day. Phil Woolas (Minister of State for borders and immigration) outlined his proposals for the "transitional arrangements" for those already with Indefinite Leave to Remain (or having applied for ILR). The commencement date for the changeover from the present system to the new "probationary citizenship" pathway is July 2011. He proposed that those on ILR (or having applied for it) at that time will be able to apply for citizenship under the old rules. I noticed that Chris Huhne (Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department) made some very scathing remarks about this bill: "This bill proves that quantity does not equal quality" "...inaccessible and ill thoughtout" "...a pudding without a theme" "...it's piecemeal legislation that results in many anomalies and inconsistencies" "...jigsaw puzzle legislation" "Another trust me, I'm a minister bill" "...a hotchpotch of provisions." And Damian Green (the shadow immigration minister) said there was "Severe disappointment" about this bill. Indeed, I agree with that view! This is the third reading of this bill. I listened intently to the discussion and after all that time and effort, at 10pm the speaker announced that there isn't supposed to be debate after 10pm. So it looks like they will have to continue the debate another day. It was obvious that they were really trying to rush the bill through today. It sure doesn't seem like the right way to go about making changes to laws. Related post from my blog: Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill: Children of British mothers (lots of comments from people in the same situation)

Supermarket 'for older people' may open in Britain

Tesco, which hopes to open the country's first pensioner-friendly store complete with wider shopping aisles and brighter lights, has sent a group over over-65s to the Kaiser supermarket in Berlin, the first of its kind in Germany. The group will report back to Tesco before a decision is made on the proposed 60,000sq ft store in Newcastle, next door to Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing and Health. Professor Jim Edwardson, 67, founder of the Institute and one of those who travelled to Germany, said: "Almost everything about supermarket shopping in the UK is wrong for elderly customers, from shelving that is too high to reach or too low to get to. (link via telegraph.co.uk) This is great news! It's about time that supermarket owners realize that many of their customers are older and should be catered to. In fact, all supermarkets should be re-designed and/or modified to be 'pensioner-friendly' and meet the needs of pensioners* and indeed all their customers, regardless of their age. It would make shopping eaier for everyone not just the elderly! *a pensioner is a person who has retired, and now collects a pension Tesco is one of the world's leading international retailers

Living longer and age discrimination

The famous novelist, Margaret Drabble. has written a powerful article about age discrimination published in The Observer today: The old have a powerful role to play. We're going to enjoy it. From offensive road signs to bad jokes about silver surfers, age discrimination is one of the besetting problems of our times I recommend you read the entire article. Margaret Drabble makes a lot of excellent points such as this: We don't like being portrayed officially as dodderers with sticks and bent backs who are a menace on the roads and we object to patronising jokes about silver surfers. We want to choose to grow old gracefully, like the Queen or disgracefully, like John Mortimer and Beryl Cook, or not at all, like Helen Mirren. We don't want to be lumped into a category.

Children of British mothers: proposed changes to citizenship law!

My mother is British but I haven't been able to claim British citizenship because the law as it stands, discriminates based on gender and age. The 2002 Nationality and Immigration Act allows the foreign-born children of British women born after 7 Feb 1961 to register as citizens. I was born before that date so I am being discriminated against due to my age, and my mother is being discriminated against because of her gender since British men can pass on their citizenship no matter when their child was born. Last year, an American lady who lives in England (and has a British mother like I do), started a petition - which I signed of course - to try and get the 2002 NIA changed to remove the gender and age discrimination - but sadly her attempt didn't succeed. Since then, I have been putting off applying for British citizenship because I was considering doing my own political/legal battle about this blatant age and gender discrimination when lo and behold, I found (fantastic!) news on the Home Office (The UK Border Agency) website Children of British mothers - proposed changes : The government plans to introduce an amendment to allow people born before the 1961 date to register under this section. The proposals will be introduced in the Citizenship, Immigration and Borders Bill in December 2008. The Bill will be debated in Parliament from December and so, if this proposal becomes law, it is unlikely to come into effect until late 2009. Okay, it will take a while to go through Parliament but still, I am thrilled! The fees* to apply for British citizenship are quite expensive (and I resent the idea since my mother is English) so I will wait for this law to be changed and then I will acquire British citizenship by descent. I'm entitled to it! *The required Life in the UK Test costs £34 , and the application for Naturalisation as a British citizen costs £655. Related post from my blog: Borders, Immigration & Citizenship Bill: Children of British mothers Changes to the law on citizenship: Children of British mothers