Britain's announcement that it would grant citizenship to people who become stateless after the handover seems to have been announced so hastily that insufficient thought has gone into how the system will operate. While the outcome was welcome, the issue has been on the boil for 12 years. So it might have been expected that, once a decision was reached, detailed plans to implement it would have been there at the ready.

Apparently not. The Governor was out of Hong Kong when the announcement came, despite the fact that he has been a tireless advocate in the passport issue. The British Trade Commission, which will administer the process, will not be able to clarify the questions it is being asked until the Home Office draws up the ground rules. According to a Home Office spokesman, these will still not be finalised when Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind is in Hong Kong next week.

Already, there are reports that people in possession of other passports are rushing to get rid of them in the belief that they will then be given right of abode in Britain, and that the Home Office has not decided how to deal with people who take this step. This is a highly unsatisfactory situation, likely to cause a great deal of disappointment if the final decision is to debar them; but it is by no means the only area of uncertainty.