‘Cherry-red’ passports for Britons

Press, 16 June 1988, Page 12

‘Cherry-red’ passports for Britons

From TONY VERDON in London

Britons are about to lose one of their last symbols of authority in the world — the impressive, hard-backed dark-blue passports. From the beginning of next month, their passports will be replaced by what some critics call “a feeble cherry-red notebook.”

The smaller, plasticcovered passports are being introduced in the interests of European Community harmony, but not without an uproar from those who regard

the present stiff British passport as one of the most respected . travel documents in the world.

The new passports may be computer-readable and more practical than the present ones, but some influential Britons describe them as "cheap and ignoble.” Apart from being a different colour, the new common format European Community document will be similar to the current New Zealand passport. The first of the new documents will be issued in Glasgow on July 1, and as the old passports expire, so the new style documents will replace them.

There will be a temporary reprieve for Britons living abroad whose passports expire in the next few months — the new style of travel document is not expected to be issued by foreign posts until next year. In the meantime, the Home Office has run into a storm of protest about the changes, even though it has spent £1.5 million ($3.7 million) on an automated production line to mass-produce the new format passports. The new' passports are being introduced by member States to symbolise their commitment to European unity. They will have a laminated machine-readable

page in the back, to enable prompt and precise identity checking at borders.

Unlike the present British passport, the new document will be slightly smaller and easy to carry. Businessmen will be able to carry it in their wallets, while it will bend enough for hitch-hikers to fit into the back pocket of their jeans.

It will also be easier for immigration officers to check, with all the information needed at a check-point, including photograph, being on the inside of the back cover. The common format document is already in use by most other community members. At many land frontiers it is enough to show it, even through the window of a car, and travellers are waved through. By 1992, it is hoped European Community citizens will not be controlled individually when passing through airports or frontiers.

Travellers will walk past the immigration officer holding their “European passport” open at the operative page and only the occasional person will be stopped for a spotcheck.

But while its opponents accept the new documents will be more efficient,

they complain about how it looks.

A Conservative member of the European Parliament, Lord Bethell, believes that emotionally the new passport is likely to prove disastrous.

He wrote in “The Times” that maybe the present British passport is too arrogantly grand for the modern age, but that its replacement “is cheap and nasty, unworthy of the fine idea that conceived it as a practical convenience as well as a symbol of the growing unity of 350 million people.”

A former Minister in British Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher’s first administration, Lord St John of Fawsley, has called for her intervention to block the change.

Although a supporter of the European Community, he says the new passport represents a drab uniformity being imposed on all member countries. “One can be a full and enthusiastic member of the European Community without wanting every detail of our lives to be regulated from Brussels," he said.

Lord St John said that by blocking the move Mrs Thatcher would reinforce her popularity and save for the nation a symbol of which every British citizen is proud.