Master
Brexit – Nigel Farage
Madame
Brexit – Theresa May
On Friday
December 22nd 2017 Brandon Lewis, a Home Office minister announced that after
Brexit in March 2019 our passport will be revamped and that the new one will be
the “most high-tech and secure we have ever seen” and be more resistant to
fraud and forgery. But also I dare say not without great euphoria and nationalistic (English) fervour
its colour would revert to blue.
Mr Lewis
went on to say:
“Leaving
the EU gives us a unique opportunity to restore our national identity and forge
a new path for ourselves in the world,”
It was in
the early 20th century that passports as would be recognised today began to be
used. The first modern British one was the product of the British Nationality
and Status Aliens Act 1914 but a few years later as a result of an agreement
among the League of Nations to standardise passports, the famous "old
blue" was issued in 1920. Apart from a few adjustments it remained a
steady symbol of the touring Briton until it gradually began to be replaced by
the burgundy-coloured European version in 1988.
So, the
first point to note is that Britain’s previous blue colour was itself a foreign
imposition and it also stipulated French must be included. In addition overtime
the UK introduced some biometric features to comply with American visa waiver
requirements.
The whole saga really excited Master Brexit
who said that the Blue Passport is the “first
tangible victory”, an end to “humiliation”; and
a proud expression of our national greatness. Indeed he went further
‘’You can’t be a nation unless you have this symbol’’
To which I responded
‘What nonsense, Wales and Scotland are very proud Nations and
their people don’t need a passport to recognise and understand their nationhood’.
Anyway now we know from
Master Farage those 18 months after the EU referendum and the recently
unfinished details of the phase 1 negotiations it this this paltry and
nonsensical claim (‘first tangible victory’) the Brexiteers shout the most
about... It’s not much is it?
Not to be out done by
Master Brexit enters Madame Brexit herself. She asserted that the Blue Passport
was ‘iconic’. Going further she said:
‘’The UK passport is an expression of our independence and
sovereignty – symbolising our citizenship of a proud, great nation. That's why
we have announced that the iconic will return after we leave the European Union
in 2019.’’
In a tweet to her I
responded:
‘‘Great Nation’? there are
4 of them. Wales is my Nation. Britain is NOT a Nation - check it out’’.
A fact that is far too often ignored by politicos, the establishment, the media and so much else.
A fact that is far too often ignored by politicos, the establishment, the media and so much else.
I also added:
‘’It is all misleading as well - the EU only stipulated the
wording on them and aspects of design; colour can be a matter for the
member country. UK could have had ‘blue’
decades ago’’
and that Croatia already has a blue
passport!
Of course this
delusional little saga is in a long line of made up untruths and lies
perpetrated by the tabloid press and the anti – EU politicians for decades.
Remember the ‘bent bananas’, end of the ‘British sausage’ and the ban on
eight-year-olds blowing up balloons.
By the way many
of the array of such falsehoods, made over the years, were often the product of
an utterly shameless person now the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson..
Sky Data then
conducted a poll of a 1050 sample, typical number for most polling, and the
result revealed that the great British public is divided on the importance of
choosing the colour of British passports as a symbol of national identity.
The survey revealed:
-
Four in 10 people think it is
an important symbol, while 60% felt the issue is not important.
- Also 29% of those polled said it is "very important"
but 44% think it is not important at all.
-
Among younger people aged
18-34, 73% think it is unimportant, while 27% say it is important.
-
Of those aged 55 and over, 53%
think it is an important symbol of national identity, with 47% saying it is
unimportant.
Obviously social media and the quality press went into overdrive over
the Blue Passport issue.
Finding itself on the backfoot this morning the Home Office hastily confirmed that the UK did voluntarily adopt the common passport criteria from
the European Economic Community (EEC) and was not obliged to keep it. So it was
not that ‘bad, bureaucratic’ EU Commission after all!
A Government source said
''that the
agreement made decades ago resulting in a burgundy coloured passport was not in
fact legally binding and that redesigns have been considered around every five
years.''
So like Croatia, who notably refused to change the dark blue colour of
its passports after joining the EU in 2013, with the interior minister telling
local media: “The EU’s position is that there is no obligation.”, the UK could
have done the same.
The sorry
tale just illustrates what makes Brexit worthwhile to the loudest Brexiteers
and that there are indeed strong ‘little Englander’ and ‘dreams of Empire’ undertones to
their project. They are quite content to trade the colour of our passports for
the guarantee of simple, visa-free travel and the right to live and work in the
EU – leaving aside the wider economic benefits of remaining a member.