Independent Media | Campaigning Journalism
Nicola Sturgeon just told Theresa May where she can stick her blue passport
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has taken to social media to tell Theresa May where she can stick her blue passports.
Small island
As of October 2019, UK passports will return to their traditional blue and gold colour. To The Sun, and many on the right of UK politics, this constitutes some sort of victory.
The new UK passport will be high tech, almost impossible to forge, have biometric data, polycarbonate pages, cost the same as the current ones but they’ll be a traditional dark blue.
Result!!!https://t.co/PE191LbFIb
— James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) December 21, 2017
But others were less enthused. Not least, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Laying out her opinion in the most candid of terms, Sturgeon said:
The open, inclusive, civic, internationalist Scottish independence movement that I’m so proud to be part of could not be further from this insular, inward-looking, blue passport-obsessed nonsense. Never has ‘stop the world, Scotland wants to get on’ felt more relevant.
The open, inclusive, civic, internationalist Scottish independence movement that I’m so proud to be part of could not be further removed from this insular, inward looking, blue passport-obsessed nonsense. Never has ‘stop the world, Scotland wants to get on’ felt more relevant. https://t.co/GuVdYqdEiM
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 22, 2017
And it’s important to remember that, while the UK voted narrowly to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum, Scotland voted to remain.
A kick in the pants
But Sturgeon and Scotland were not alone in questioning the value of blue passports. The burgundy passports have been in use since 1988. And given the multitude of issues facing UK voters today, the colour of their passport is unlikely to be chief among them.
“What does this new passport do?”
“It’s blue.”
“Can I use it to travel freely and work in 26 neighbouring countries?”
“No – but look, it’s blue.”— John O'Farrell (@mrjohnofarrell) December 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/adamecurry/status/944122812851277824
Not sure why the color of a passport matters, but then again, if we cared less about color, we probably wouldn't be brexiting in the first place. #bluepassport
— Steven Bartlett (@stevebartlettsc) December 22, 2017
And in a final ironic twist, Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis is unable to confirm if the new passports will be made in the UK.
Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis cannot promise that new blue passport will be made in UK @BBCr4today though the security bits he says are all added in UK
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) December 22, 2017
So much for taking back control.
Featured image via Flickr Creative Commons/Wikimedia Commons
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