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Britain drags heels over giving French firm green light to make post-Brexit blue passports

Britain said Tuesday it had extended the bidding process for making its new post-Brexit passports amid a furore over a Franco-Dutch manufacturer being preferred to a UK one.

Published: 3 April 2018 15:27 CEST

Britain drags heels over giving French firm green light to make post-Brexit blue passports

Photo: AFP PHOTO / UK PASSPORT OFFICE

British firm De La Rue is preparing to issue a legal challenge to the preliminary decision to award the contract to make the blue-coloured passports to Paris-based Gemalto.

Meanwhile, a petition run by the Daily Mail newspaper to have the non-EU passports made in Britain has topped 266,000 signatures.

The British government confirmed that a two-week extension to the bidding process began on Tuesday, after the Home Office interior ministry agreed to a request from De La Rue.

A spokesman said that such a “standstill” period was not uncommon.

He made clear that Gemalto remained the favourites.

“The preferred bidder demonstrated they were best able to meet the needs of our passport service, with a high-quality and secure product and best value for the taxpayer,” he said.

The return of blue British passports in place of standard burgundy European Union ones is seen as a hugely symbolic reclamation of UK sovereignty for those backing Britain's exit from the bloc.

Brexit supporters have said it would be a “national humiliation” if they were made in the EU.

De La Rue admitted it would be a more expensive option for taxpayers but insisted theirs was the “highest quality and technically most secure bid”.

“We confirm that we are taking the first steps towards initiating appeal proceedings against the provisional decision,” a spokeswoman added.

UK passports had dark blue covers from 1921. But Britain switched to burgundy from 1988, in common with other passports of what was then the European Community.

Britain is set to leave the EU in March 2019. The new passport production contract starts in October 2019.

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Brexodus: The Brits in a rush to move to France before Brexit day

Brits in Europe won right to vote for life in UK but questions remain

What’s in the law?

The Elections Act 2022 introduced several changes to the current legislation on electoral participation. Among these, it removed the rule by which British citizens lose their voting rights in the UK if they have lived abroad for more than 15 years

The new rules also abolished the requirement to have been previously registered in the UK electoral roll to become an overseas voter. In addition, the registration in the electoral roll will now last up to three years instead of only one year.

It is estimated that these changes could increase the number of overseas voter registrations by some 3 million. But the way new measures will be applied in practice is still to be defined.

READ ALSO: ‘Mixed feelings’ – British citizens in Europe finally get right to vote for life

Defining the practicalities

Under the new law, Britons living abroad will have to register to vote in the last place they were registered in the UK. This means that people who have never lived in the UK will be ineligible to vote, regardless of how long they have been overseas, while those who left when they were children will be able to use a parent or guardian’s address.

But given that the UK does not require residents to register with local councils, how to prove previous UK residence? “Typical documents accepted as a proof of residence are Council tax or utilities bills, but not everyone will have them or will have kept them in an international move,” says Fiona Godfrey, co-founder of the British in Europe coalition.

Ballot papers are pictured in stacks in a count centre as part of the 2019 UK general election. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP)

Other questions concern how people will effectively cast their ballot. UK citizens overseas will be able to vote by post or by proxy or in person at their polling station if they are in the UK at the time of the election. However, few people are likely to travel to the UK for an election and in the past there have problems and delays with postal voting.

The Electoral Commission has recommended that overseas electors appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf. But who could that be for people who have been away from their constituency for a long time?

New secondary legislation will have to answer these questions, defining how to be included in the electoral roll and how to exercise the voting right in practice.

According to British in Europe, the government should present draft legislation in the first half of the year so that the parliament can adopt it before summer and registrations of overseas voters can start in the autumn.

British in Europe survey

British in Europe are currently running a survey to understand the difficulties UK citizens abroad may face in the registration and voting process, as well as their intention to participate in elections.

The survey asks for instance which documents people can access to prove their previous residence in the UK, what problems they had voting in the past, and if and how they plan to vote in the future.

“We need to get an up-to-date picture of British citizens living around the world and have information to make recommendations to the government, as it prepares secondary legislation,” Godfrey said. “If millions of people will exercise their voting rights, there will be consequences for council registration offices, post office and authorities that will manage the process, among other things” she argued.

The right to vote concerns only UK parliamentary elections and national referendums, not elections in the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or at local level.

The survey is open to UK citizens living anywhere in the world and is available at this link.

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