Matt Kilcoyne is entirely correct here in The Times. We said that when we handed over Hong Kong we’d be guaranteeing, as far as we were able, the rights contained within the agreement. Those rights are rather under threat at present, we must do something. As we’ve not enough gunboats these days – nor opium – we’ll need to do something else:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Nearly 200,000 Hong Kong citizens are British nationals. But this is an empty citizenship; they cannot move here, live here or study here. We should let them live in the UK like any other British citizen. We should go further, too. Every Hongkonger should have the choice to live in this country, a new home if darkness should fall. It would be a huge boost for Britain to welcome highly skilled, entrepreneurial, freedom-loving individuals to our shores. We should let the people of Hong Kong know that we hear them sing for freedom.[/perfectpullquote]That’s a very good something else, in fact it’s an excellent something else. Which is why Bernard Levin thought of it first. His proposal was just that. ‘Ave an HK passport? You have the right of residence in the UK.
With, it has to be said, just the one little proviso. You’ve only got that right of residence in Liverpool. Which we’ll turn into a free port at the same time.
Clever man Levin, sorting out both Hong Kong and Liverpool at the same time.
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I have three words for those who imply all such immigrants are advantageous. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.
YAB is Kong Kong Chinese? I never knew.
No, of course not. She's left over from the last time there was a situation like this. As I think you probably know. With the HK Chinese, it's a question of how many. An open-ended commitment on the part of the UK would not be wise. We might get a million Yasmins.
Surely they should go to Rotherham; with the condition that they introduce old fashioned Chinese legal standards there.
Oi, I don't want to have to trek to Liverpool to visit my family.