It doesn't really matter at all where the UK has its passport manufactured providing that the process is secure and good value for money, but that does not preclude us from sniggering at the embarrassment of the Brexiteers and their media cheerleaders at the news that the new, highly symbolic, blue British passports are to be made in Europe.
As the Guardian reports, changing the colour of the UK passport from the burgundy favoured across the EU is regarded by some Brexiters as a powerful symbol of Britain’s restored sovereignty. But it has now been reported that British firm De La Rue lost out to Gemalto, which is listed on the French and Dutch stock exchanges, in the race to win the £490m printing job.
As the Liberal Democrat’s Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake, says: “The blue passport saga is turning into a farce. First it was established that we did not have to leave the EU to have blue passports. Now we learn that the passports will be printed by a foreign company. And to add insult to injury, we will pay over the odds for them because the value of the pound has fallen since Brexit and they will have to be imported.”
So much for taking back control.
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