Dedicated Channel for Commonwealth Subjects at UK Border Points

Dear readers, below is a letter I wrote to a British MP yesterday commending him on his UK Borders Bill.


Andrew Rosindell, M.P.
Conservative MP for Romford
British House of Commons
LONDON, England
SW1A 0AA

Subject: Dedicated Channel for Commonwealth Subjects at United Kingdom Borders

Dear Mr. Rosindell,

As a Canadian subject of Her Majesty, I was delighted to learn of your bill presently before the UK Parliament that proposes a dedicated channel at international terminals for those from the Commonwealth realms, operating next to the channel for EU citizens, that would allow all Her Majesty's subjects to enter the United Kingdom with appropriate decorum and not as second-class subjects. I was also delighted to discover that your bill apparently enjoys considerable cross-party support, and that it passed first reading on July 11, 2012.

This is an extremely welcome development and I agree wholeheartedly that categorizing citizens from Commonwealth realms as "foreign" is a constitutional travesty and injustice, and one that dishonours our collective history, common identity, shared inheritance and of course the fact that the Queen sits at the very heart of our 16 respective constitutions. Surely our enduring special relationship with the UK through the Crown can be recognized and reciprocated in some meaningful way, and that our membership in the Crown Commonwealth can be made to actually confer some benefit/advantage beyond the important vestiges of shared symbols and a common past.

It is especially appropriate that such mutually beneficial arrangements be extended when one imagines recent Australian VC recipients arriving at London Heathrow Airport on their way to a private audience with the Queen! This may be an extreme example, but it serves to highlight our deep-rooted connections, and just how sensible and timely your proposal actually is. We live in a utilitarian age, and people will value and react positively when they see such arrangements working for them.

I am of the opinion that unless the key Commonwealth realms feel they are part of something bigger, some shared undertaking, unless they feel they are part of some common endeavour across geography and across time, it may be difficult to forever dispel false perceptions that the Crown is somehow "irrelevant" or "colonial" or "foreign". Fortunately there has been a contemporary revival of the monarchy in recent years, and I was heartened to hear you mention in the British House of Commons my own country's decision to restore official usage of the "Royal" nomenclature to Canada's navy and air force, the campaigning for which I was proud to play a part.

Certainly your own worthwhile initiative to install the Queen's portrait at UK entry points is not unlike Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent reinstatement of official portraits of the Queen at all Canadian missions, consulates and embassies abroad, and I have no doubt therefore that his team will follow passage of your bill with keen interest in the months ahead.

Godspeed you on your way.

With esteem and best wishes, I am


Yours sincerely,