Asked by: Eric Joyce (Independent - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any UK citizens would involuntarily lose resident citizenship as a result of Scottish independence.
Answered by Karen Bradley
In the event of a vote for independence, decisions about UK citizenship would
rest with the UK Government; the basis for entitlement to Scottish citizenship
would be for the government of an independent Scottish state to decide.
The UK has historically been tolerant of plural nationalities, and therefore it
is likely that it would be possible for an individual to hold both British and
Scottish citizenship. However, under current rules British citizens living
outside the UK cannot pass their British nationality on more than one
generation. So, the children of British citizens living in an independent
Scotland would be British citizens, but their children and subsequent
generations would not be.
The government of the continuing UK would also need to consider whether all
British citizens living in Scotland could retain their British citizenship upon
independence. This cannot be guaranteed and could be dependent on any residence
requirements or proof of affinity to the continuing UK. It is not possible to
predict now what the decision of a future government of the continuing UK might
be in this area.
Asked by: Eric Joyce (Independent - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the UK armed forces would lose their jobs as a result of Scottish independence.
Answered by Mark Francois
The UK Government is not planning for Scottish independence and neither is the Ministry of Defence. Existing members of the UK Armed Forces would still be part of the UK Armed Forces and, as far as the UK Government is concerned, would be able to continue to serve in them, subject to the usual requirements of service.