To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to monitor the use of passports of more than one country by British citizens.

My Lords, as the UK Border Agency’s e-borders system is rolled out, it will provide additional capability to reconcile electronically where an individual travels using different documents, so that passengers with dual nationality can be identified. The e-borders system analyses passenger data against watch lists prior to travel. Records of all passenger movements are retained, with a facility to search those data.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer, but what steps will the Government take to ensure that, as of now, British immigration officials can know when somebody travelling on a UK passport also holds the passport of another country? Has he been made aware, as I have, of the serious concern that the lack of this information at present makes it extremely difficult to track those who are suspected of sympathising with or engaging in terrorism? Is it not astonishing that his noble friend Lord West had to answer my Question of 8 January, when I asked how many British passport holders also hold the passports of other countries, by saying that the “information … is not available”?

My Lords, it is not astonishing at all. It is not part of the nationality Act for us to have knowledge of passports held in different countries. What we have to do is protect our borders, which is precisely what the rolling-out of the e-borders programme is doing. That will be complete when the agency holds 100 per cent of the records available. It is not at that stage yet, but the programme is already successful. There was a four-year successful operational pilot, Project Semaphore, and contracts have been placed. We are now seeing the results: 30 million annualised passenger movements were processed by the end of the project in 2008 and by April this year the figure will be 100 million annualised passenger movements. By the end of 2010, coverage will be 95 per cent and, by 2014, it will be 100 per cent. That is the answer to the noble Lord’s question. However, we are not resting on our laurels—

Too long!

My Lords, it is clear that your Lordships want this information. By the end of 2008, 78,114,231 passengers were screened, 33,000 alerts were made and 2,700 people were arrested. That is the information that I thought your Lordships were looking for.

My Lords, is the Minister aware that, when a nationality is renounced, the passport has to be surrendered and a record is kept? Why is it not possible in this day and age of biometric passports to ensure that records of dual nationality are kept? How can we have adequate immigration statistics if someone uses one passport for entry and a different one for exit?

My Lords, the noble Lord raises an important question, which the whole e-borders project is an attempt—a successful one, I believe—to counter. Getting to the point of having the technology and 100 per cent coverage will take time, but we are moving in that direction. In the mean time, we have watch lists and the security agencies and others keep a close watch on suspected areas of concern, so the situation is not as simple as is suggested. We do not have complete coverage, but we will have in due course.

My Lords, when did these passport changes occur? My experience is as someone who holds only an Australian passport. I never applied for a British passport because the Home Office would automatically notify the Australian Government when someone made an application and the Australian Government would then revoke their Australian citizenship. That law has now changed, but I am too old to be bothered to apply—

No!

My Lords, this country has been very good to me, so I cannot complain. At what stage did the law change? Previously, the Home Office was very aware of people having two passports.

My Lords, I can only say to the noble Baroness that her presence in our country for many years has borne fruit and she certainly does not look old enough not to take advantage of changes to the passport system. The Australians of course require visas for the United Kingdom. The British Government do not have the same requirement that dual passport holders have to renounce one of their passports. The question of how this is being developed is not simply for the UK alone. An increasing number of countries are looking at this situation and are planning to introduce, or already have introduced, systems that capture and analyse passenger data. Those include the United States, as most of us know, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, India and Cuba. Your Lordships may guess the odd one out.

My Lords, the Minister gave quite a long Answer to the Question, but I understood from what he said that he was justifying the present situation on the basis of it being compatible with the British Nationality Act 1981. A lot has changed since the early 1980s, especially the need to be vigilant against links with terrorists. Does it remain a matter of unconcern to Her Majesty's Government that we do not have the information for which my noble friend Lord Marlesford asked?

My Lords, my apologies if my previous answers have seemed to be too long; I actually average about eight answers in seven and a half minutes. I was reminded on my first occasion appearing here that I should give short answers. The truth is that there has been more legislation; a Bill is coming forward to this House very shortly. Of course the Government are concerned and we are taking action. It ill behoves those who suggest that we are not.

My Lords, I refer the Minister back to my noble friend Lord Marlesford's original Question. We have soldiers dying in Afghanistan at the moment to protect us against terrorism. One of the bases of terrorism is Pakistan. What action are we taking to ensure that people do not travel from this country as UK citizens on Pakistani passports that we do not know about?

My Lords, I have explained why the system at the moment does not provide for that information to be available wholesale. I am sure that there are those selectively looking at those who may be suspected of going to Pakistan from this country for nefarious purposes. I also explained the timescale by which the system will be complete. In the mean time, I do not doubt that the authorities are looking very closely at the question that the noble Baroness raises.