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BRITAIN-EU-BREXIT-PASSPORT
UK to start issuing post-Brexit blue passports
LONDON, Feb 22, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Britain will issue blue passports next
month for the first time in almost three decades following its departure from
the European Union, the government said on Saturday.
The new blue cover passports will be issued and delivered early next
month, said the interior ministry, replacing the burgundy passports that were
introduced in 1988.
They are ironically being made in Poland after the contract was
controversially awarded to French multinational Thales.
“Leaving the European Union gave us a unique opportunity to restore our
national identity and forge a new path in the world,” said interior minister
Priti Patel.
“By returning to the iconic blue and gold design, the British passport
will once again be entwined with our national identity and I cannot wait to
travel on one,” she added.
The issue became another battleground of the Brexit war after the
government announced in 2017 it would return to traditional blue passports
“to restore national identity”.
The loss of the blue cover was much lamented by some when it was replaced
with a burgundy one in line with most other EU nations.
The colour change is a return to the original appearance of the British
passport, with the colour first used in 1921.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0907 hrs