A bill to give Bermudians the right to become full British citizens and live in the United Kingdom goes before MPs in London on October 31.

A spokesman for the British Labour Party government was unable to say when the Overseas Territories Bill will finally be passed into law.

The parliamentary timetable is tight because of the current terrorist crisis, and the spokesman for Labour Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong told The Royal Gazette he could not say if the bill will be passed by the end of this year.

Legislation dealing with terrorism and more pressing issues at home will push the bill down the list of priorities for the government.

The bill gives around 200,000 citizens of the 14 overseas territories, including Bermuda, the opportunity to take full British citizenship, to live in the United Kingdom, and to work in the European Union.

Current British citizens will not be given the right to live and work in the overseas territories.

The House of Lords has already debated the bill and will give it its third reading on Tuesday. Wednesday the bill will get its first reading in the House of Commons, which is a formality.

The second reading, when the bill will be debated properly by MPs for the first time, can take place no sooner than two weeks later. However, the bill will not become law until it has been debated a third time in the House of Commons, and only then if there are no amendments.

A spokesman for Ms Armstrong, who is responsible for organising the parliamentary timetable, told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "It's too early to know (when it will be debated) and I won't know for a couple of weeks.

"In light of September 11 there are a lot of holes being punched in the legislative programme, and the business managers are running out of time.

"I have no idea when the government will want to progress the legislation. Finding time to fill is difficult at the moment but the situation will change."

Speaking in the House of Lords in July, Baroness Amos, the under-secretary of state for overseas territories at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said: "There is no compulsion about acquiring British citizenship.

"We believe that most people will want it, but British Overseas Territories citizens, as the bill proposes they be known in the future, will have the option to renounce British citizenship, and retain their current status, should they so wish."