A draft Immigration and Citizenship Bill was published on 14th July 2008 for consultation. The Bill itself was eventually introduced in the House of Lords on 14th January 2009 as the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill.

The aim is "to make newcomers to the UK earn the right to stay here, strengthen the border, and ensure we have a firm but fair immigration system..." (see 2009/01/15 - Home Office Press Release "Government's new bill shakes up the route to Citizenship").

Key aspects of the "firm immigration system" include:

• a duty on the UK Border Agency to safeguard the welfare of children in its work;
  
• new rules to give automatic British nationality to a child born in the UK where at least one parent is a foreign or commonwealth member of the British armed forces; and
  
• a remedy to fix the current situation whereby a father could pass on his British nationality to a child born abroad before 1961 while a mother could not.

Additionally, full access to benefits and social housing will be reserved for citizens and permanent residents, foreign nationals committing offences will be removed, and there will be strong powers to crack down on illegal immigration.

For relevant general notes see Immigration/a general introductory note