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FT.com | Gideon Rachman’s Blog | Becoming a British citizen
Becoming a British citizen. I am just back from watching a citizenship ceremony at ... Colombia, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Somalia, Congo, Uganda, Ivory Coast, ...

And maybe not even there.February 25th, 2008 in immigration | Permalink7 Responses to “Becoming a British citizen”CommentsToronto in Canada (where I live) makes a claim to be being the most ethnically diverse city on the planet. But 9/11 and an increasing awareness of the impact of immigration on Britain has changed things. But then came Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.Where else will you get such a diverse range of new immigrants.?Perhaps only in New York. Citizenship is a privilege laden with meaning and a ceremony to recognise that privilege is only proper. He then had to go a local solicitor’s office and swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch. I willn’t take on British citizenship in principle.Posted by: Oliver Cromwell | February 25th, 2008 at 8:12 pm | Report this commentWhere else? In the global economy “immigration exceptionalism” doesn´t exist. It seems self-confident and under-stated - which are two of the better national characteristics. My favourite family group was a mother, father and daughter from China - the little girl in bright red, plastic raincoat, holding up her certificate for the cameras. One of my neighbours at the FT recalls that when he became a citizen many years ago, all that happened was that he got a letter from the Home Secretary saying that he was “minded” to grant him citizenship. The first one took place in Britain in January, 2004.I found today’s ceremony genuinely moving. The government brought in a citizenship ceremony - loosely modelled on the US. The largest single contingent were Bangladeshis. The roll-call went: Sierra Leone, Australia, Colombia, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Somalia, Congo, Uganda, Ivory Coast, the Phillipines, the USA, China, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia (again).  The sheer range of places people have come from is  dazzling. The solicitor said merrily - “I’ll give her a call and tell her.”I always found this British casualness about citizenship quite re-assuring. The UK immigrants are far more likely to be retirees. Then everybody sings the national anthem: just the first two verses, so that the new citizens do not have to engage with that confusing passage about “crushing rebellious Scots”.The citizenship ceremony is a new thing in Britain. Then they go and get a certficate and their photo taken with a man in a fancy uniform, in front of a Union Jack and a portrait of the Queen. They announce the birth-place of each new citizen, as they come up to get  their certificates. They got as far as 16 countries, before one was repeated - Australia. This blog covers a wide range of topics, from US foreign policy to the European Union and the "war on terror". With the other nationalities, Spain is importing labour.It’s an open question which of these two imports has been more disruptive for Spaniards. With them, Spain is importing capital, invested in the property market.