The UK’s post-Brexit blue passports will be made by a Franco-Dutch firm.
De La Rue, the British firm that makes the current burgundy passport, “will not produce the new, blue version”, says The Guardian. Instead, it’s understood that Gemalto, which is listed on the French and Dutch stock exchanges, has landed the £490m printing job.
The news is rich with symbolism and irony as some pro-Brexit campaigners regard changing the passport’s colour as a significant emblem of Britain’s restored sovereignty. However, the rumoured decision has been greeted with derision by Remainers, too.
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Leading Brexiter Sir Bill Cash, the chair of the European Scrutiny Committee, says the decision is “completely wrong and unnecessary”. Eloise Todd of the pro-remain pressure group Best for Britain said: “The irony is unreal”, while pro-Brexit former cabinet minister Priti Patel described the decision as “perverse” and a “national humiliation”.
Speaking to the BBC, the chief executive of De La Rue said he feared there would be job losses at the firm’s Gateshead factory. He challenged the prime minister or the home secretary to “come to my factory and explain to my dedicated workforce why they think this is a sensible decision to offshore the manufacture of a British icon”.
Under European Union competition rules, large public procurement contracts must be offered to companies across the bloc. The Home Office says no final decision has been made on where the new passports will be printed.
The irrefutable irony of the switch did not pass by on Twitter.
But there were still those who supported Brexit and the move to a foreign passport producer.
While others wondered how this would fit in with the vision of Brexit Britain’s future.
Others meanwhile had a different solution to the whole problem entirely.