Blue British Passports: Are They Coming Back after Brexit?

Apparently they'll only set us back a mere £500 million.
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The UK could be set to return to navy blue passports following Brexit, it has been reported - but not everyone seems convinced this is an entirely justified priority.

The Sunday Express claimed that a £490 million contract for the redesign of the passports has been put out for tender.

The current contract is set to expire in 2019 - the year the UK will finally leave the EU.

Apparently burgundy passports are a 'source of national humiliation'
Apparently burgundy passports are a 'source of national humiliation'
Scoobers via Getty Images

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, chairman of the Flags and Heraldry Committee, told the Sunday Express that the burgundy passports were a “source of national humiliation”.

Meanwhile his fellow Tory Peter Bone told the Sun: “Having got back our national independence, we can express that by having our own passports again.”

The reaction on social media, however, was less than impressed...

Nice to see Brexiteers have their spending priorities right... £500m on blue passports, not money for the NHS. #brexit pic.twitter.com/eA2kMli0D2

— Gail E Bishop (@gailebishop) April 2, 2017

To be honest, I'd rather sort out the NHS and mental health provisions than blue passports.

— Chris Brosnahan (@ChrisBrosnahan) April 2, 2017

HALF A BILLION QUID ON BLUE PASSPORTS A WAR WITH SPAIN OVER GIBRALTAR YES THIS IS WHAT I VOTED FOR BREXIT MEANS BREXIT GET OVER IT

— Dai Lama (@WelshDalaiLama) April 2, 2017

Meanwhile our domestic post-Brexit priorities are blue passports and imperial measurements. We. Are. A. Joke.

— Chris Godfrey (@ChrisPJGodfrey) April 2, 2017

BLUE PASSPORTS ... BLUE PASSPORTS ... BLUE PASSPORTS ... BLUE PASSPORTS ... BLUE PASSPORTS ... BLUE PASSPORTS ... pic.twitter.com/Y0tt0vFX77

— Isolated Brit (@IsolatedBrit) April 2, 2017

"I'm nostalgic for the 50s"
"Oh you mean like trade unions and a functioning NHS"
"No, blue passports and crap light bulbs"

— Crowsa Luxemburg (@quendergeer) April 2, 2017

Blue passports will cost £500m, or twice that if they have to buy a second ink cartridge for the printer.

— James Martin (@Pundamentalism) April 2, 2017

£500m for different coloured passports seems entirely reasonable. Especially given the public sector is so well funded at the moment.

— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) April 1, 2017

"What's the chat this lovely sunny Sunday then you delightful people?"

BLUE PASSPORTS
WAR WITH SPAIN
IMPERIAL MEASUREMENTS pic.twitter.com/kZIpD8TLL6

— Finn Darby (@FinnTD) April 2, 2017

Jeremy Corbyn also seemed rather sceptical:

The real source of humiliation is a government worrying about the colour of our passports while a social care & NHS crisis rages #priorities pic.twitter.com/f8EA7CgdSq

— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) April 2, 2017

The mildly controversial burgundy passports were introduced in 1988.

A spokesman said: “The UK passport is routinely redesigned every five years to guard against counterfeiting.

“We are launching the procurement process now to ensure there is sufficient time to produce and design UK passports from 2019 when the current contract ends.

“The timing of any potential changes to the passport after the UK has left the European Union has not been set.”

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