The Nationality and Borders Bill returns to Parliament today. The House of Lords is being presented with the Bill for a second time after MPs voted to remove all its previous attempts to drastically water down the legislation; typically the unelected chamber backs down at this point. Barring any very dramatic developments, the Bill looks set to be finalised by the end of the month at the latest: the current Parliamentary session is expected to end on 28 April.

While there may have been some hopes raised by the Lords’ amendments that were never going to be fulfilled, the government has agreed to make a couple of less eye-catching changes to the draft law. There is now a provision to allow descendants of the exiled Chagossians to apply for British nationality, and safeguards on deprivation of citizenship without notice. The latter includes a whole new Schedule 4A to the British Nationality Act 1981, on “judicial oversight” where the government wants to take someone’s citizenship away without telling them.