Emancipation March, 2008        England, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales    Home page    Editorial    Archives    Right to reply    About Emancipation    Contributions & support    Contact Not exactly a vision thing... Lord Goldsmith published a report recently and entitled: "Citizenship: Our Common Bond" and the title is somewhat misleading in that this report was produced in response to a request by government and subject to a very mundane terms of reference. The terms of reference for the report are set out in the box below. Lord Goldsmith seems to have followed the terms of reference but this meant filling some 50% of the report with technical aspects of categories of citizenship which do not affect the majority of the population. The weakest part of the report is the last item concerning an ... exploration (of) "the role of citizens and residents in civic society, including voting, jury service and other forms of civic participation." It is in this part of the report where one might have expected some better analysis and more visionary proposals. Because of this downbeat section the title of the report seems to be misdirected. Overall a very disappointing effort and of little real interest. Terms of reference To clarify the legal rights and responsibilities associated with British citizenship, in addition to those enjoyed under the Human Rights Act, as a basis for defining what it means to be a citizen in Britain's open democratic society To consider the difference between the different categories of British nationality To examine the relationship between residence, citizenship and British national status and the incentives for long-term residents to become British citizens To explore the role of citizens and residents in civic society, including voting, jury service and other forms of civic participation The review was launched on 5 October 2007 and reported to the Prime Minister in March 2008.