CITIZENSHIP: FROM RIGHT TO PRIVILEGE
Beginning with the public debate over Clause 9, this background paper looks at the
history of citizenship-stripping powers and their use over the past two decades against the
background of the colonial roots of British citizenship and the way citizenship continues
to be shaped by a colonial approach. It looks at how the creation of a ‘second-class
citizenship’ has impacted on Muslims and other communities already demonised and
stigmatised by racist media coverage, politicians’ statements and policies such as Prevent,
in the context of the government’s increasing disregard for racial and religious equality.
1. The ‘Clause 9’ furore
In October 2021, the government added a new clause to the Nationality and Borders
Bill 2021-22, whose nationality provisions, up to that point, had been designed mainly to
enable the grant of citizenship to those historically prevented from obtaining it.
What clause 9 said
The new clause, which became clause 9 of the Bill,4 provided that British citizens could be
deprived of their citizenship without notice:
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If the information needed to serve a notice is not available;
it would not be reasonably practicable to tell them;
in the interests of national security;
in the interests of diplomatic relations; or
not informing them is ‘otherwise in the public interest’.
It went on to retrospectively legalise a number of deprivations which were illegal under the
existing law because notice was placed ‘on the file’ and not served on the person who lost
citizenship.5
What it means
The clause means that a British citizen who is abroad and is deprived of citizenship might
not know about it until:
> they try to come home and are refused boarding; or
> they need help from the British Embassy because their passport, money etc have been
lost or stolen; or
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Now section 10 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
In law, documents are legally served if they are sent to the person’s last known address, and do not
have to be given personally to the individual affected.
4