London: Tightening the immigration rules further, Britain on Monday announced that immigrants who jeer at British troops in the streets will be barred from gaining the country's citizenship and said migrants wanting a UK passport will have to pass a history test, an idea mooted for the first time.
Passing a history test, an idea ministers had previously spent four years resisting, and points systems are some of the salient features of the policy announced on Monday.
Immigration Minister Phil Woolas told newsmen that demonstrating against servicemen - as took place recently in disgraceful scenes in Muslim dominated Luton - "enrages law abiding Britons, and should be a block on a foreigner obtaining citizenship."
It is included in tough new rules to reduce the all-time record number of citizenship applications being approved by the Home Office.
Henceforth migrants will still have to work legally in the UK for a fixed number of years, and pass the Life in the UK test, but will then also have to go through a new screening system.
Points will be awarded for earning potential, any special skills, qualifications, whether a person works in a shortage occupation, speaks a good standard of English and even if they are willing to live in a more remote part of the UK.
The number of points needed will be adjusted, on a regular basis, to limit the number of passports being approved, and ensure population growth is kept more firmly under "control".
A number of factors which can lead to a migrant being deducted points and effectively stop from becoming a citizen will also be included in the new system.
These include committing serious criminal or anti-social behaviour - usually resulting in a prison sentence - or "circumstances where an active disregard for UK values is demonstrated".
This would include attending a demonstration against British soldiers, or showing disrespect to the war dead.
Woolas said the new points-based citizenship rules would also stop the population from reaching 70 million, and bring "control" to the migration system. The population stood at 61 million now.
At present, migrants who work legally in Britain for an average of five years are automatically allowed to progress to citizenship, provided they pass a short test on Life in the UK, introduced in 2005.
The test does not include a single question on British history, as officials judged there was "too much" and it would not be fair.
Under the new measures, foreigners who want to become British citizens could speed it up by becoming active members of political parties and trade unions, which will add up to the points.
Under these rules, the number of British passports handed out to migrants is on-course to hit an all-time record of almost 220,000 this year.
The new test on British history and politics will take place after a migrant has completed the citizenship points-test, and undergone a period of "earned citizenship" - normally lasting for between one and three years, depending on whether they are prepared to carry out voluntary work.
The voluntary work - which can controversially include trade union activism - will speed up the citizenship process by as much as two years.