Deprivation of British citizenship and withdrawal of passports sufficiently wide and operative, and it is advisable that they should be extended”. 54 1 January 1949 The British Nationality Act 1948 comes into force. This includes similar, although not identical, provisions for removal of naturalised citizenship as under the Nationality and Status of Aliens acts. Section 20 provides for deprivation of citizenship where: • • • Naturalisation or registration had been “obtained by means of fraud, false representation or the concealment of any material fact”, or A naturalised citizen had “shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal or disaffected towards His Majesty”, traded with the enemy in time of war or been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment (other forms of misconduct were removed as grounds for deprivation), or A naturalised citizen had lived abroad for more than seven years, unless working “in the service of His Majesty”/for an international organisation, or registering at a consulate In all deprivation cases, the Home Secretary must also be satisfied that it is “not conducive to the public good” for the person to remain a citizen. There is no protection against statelessness. 55 16 September 1964 The British Nationality (No. 2) Act 1964 comes into force. This amends the 1948 act by repealing the power to deprive people of their citizenship on the ground of seven years’ residence abroad. It also introduces a protection against deprivation where the person would be left stateless, but only where the ground for deprivation is a criminal offence. 56 Home Office records suggest that ten people were deprived of their citizenship between 1949 and 1973. 57 1 January 1983 The British Nationality Act 1981 comes into force. It replaces the 1948 act but retains essentially the same powers to deprive naturalised citizenship. Section 40 provides for deprivation of citizenship where: 54 55 56 57 16 HL Deb 26 July 1918 vol 30 c1220 Laurie Fransman KC and Adrian Berry, Fransman’s British Nationality Law, 4th edition, 2024, section 8.7.3 British Nationality (No. 2) Act 1964, section 4 Immigration and Security Minister, letter to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (PDF), 20 February 2014, p9. These records are not comprehensive. Commons Library Research Briefing, 18 December 2024