To expect that our new passports will be printed in the UK

The cost of procuring a new one is going up in April
It has gone up from today - I'm hoping if the application was posted yesterday the old price will apply!

I find the whole thing hilarious. Firstly we could always have had blue passports - choice of colour was nothing to do with EU. Secondly we are getting 'our' blue passports 'back' but they are nothing like the old blue passports. Thirdly they will be produced in France! Apparently if the British firm were to produce them they would have been printed in Malta anyway.
The whole thing is utterly ridiculous- it is merely a travel document and the colour is irrelevant.

I don't want to leave the EU, I don't want to have a blue passport that will leave me queuing for hours at airports, but if the government insist on going through with it I'd rather they got them made as cheaply as possible and spent the money they saved on something we actually need.

Oh jeez I bet they use Hunan blood too !

I thought that Scottish people were British ? paddyann As in Great Britain?

Don’t know what on earth you’re in about tbh

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/u-k-money-maker-s-bad-week-worsens-as-blue-passports-go-dutch

They print our new notes. They don't care about using animal products in our notes. Why should I care about whether they print British passports?

Gilly I'm NOT British,I'm Scottish and all manner of people who dont live or work or even know a thing about my country have a say in this WE want to stay in the EU ....not be dragged out against our will by people who dont give a damn about us OUR Mp's get no say in anything ..yet the unelected HOL can make decisions on our behalf ...some UNION !!!!

No it’s not Hi but I

HI will have a red passport until 22 and I am more than happy with that. Haven’t we got a contract to print one of the Eus countries, forget which one. So why couldn’t we put in a cheaper tender for our own.

Not really news at all . Common knowledge I thought ( well to us in the NE anyway) . Yes they print for so many countries their prices must be fair and good value . This makes me even more suspicious as to how they could be so hugely undercut .

"De La Rue is the largest commercial passport manufacturer in the world and supplies passports to more than 40 countries around the world. It has been producing British passports from its Gateshead factory for the last 10 years and last year produced its 40 millionth document."

On the previous page.

Who produced them 20 years ago? Was anybody bothered then?

Well there you have it.

Thank you for that useful piece of information Baggs

I just saw this on Twitter by James O'Brien (not somone I follow; apparently he's a radio host):
"De La Rue currently produces passports for 40 countries. You need to be a special sort of stupid to think you’re supporting their business by insisting that a country should produce its own passports."

Doesn't bother me where my passport is made.

It very much doubt it was by bidding on a level playing field either . I have already mentioned several reasons why I think they may have come out so much cheaper. Don’t want to list them again and be accused of “ going on and on” .

The whole point of Brexit is that we can trade with any country in the world. We are supposed to be becoming more outward looking.
It doesn't mean we stop trading with the EU, does it?
Brexiteers voted for a global Britain.
So why complain if a global company gets the contract?
I've no idea why it was cheaper for that company, but neither have you, gillybob, and to say it was probably by cheating is not the right way to go.

I’m puzzled why some comments seem almost anti British

Surely we should be asking questions like How and Why ? and demanding answers .

How does that impact on us exactly? What were the reasons behind it? Has the UK stuck to all the "rules"? Evidence? what rules have we stuck to we didn't want to? I think we made up our own "special" rules didn't we because we didn't want to stick to them? Do two wrongs make a right?

Germany stuck two fingers up by not sticking to growth rate rules for years and France did the same by not sticking to their budget.

No absolutely not ! But if there was such a massive price difference of £120 million ( yikes) I would be a tiny bit suspicious of dirty dealings or not quoting like for like .

Can’t belive you can’t see that DJ .

What rules exactly do we stick to that others don't?

So do you think that every company that got a contract instead of you did it by cheating, gillybob?
I think you ought to be careful what you are saying.
You seem to be more het up about it than De La Rue.
They just say they will have to look for more work, and I bet they don't just look in the UK.

Is it maybe that we tend to stick to them and others don’t ?

What are the different rules for French and Germans? What about Italians? there are certainly different rules for the UK ( e.g no Euro, no Shengen etc)

But not if they are bidding against .....dare I say cheaters !

Or in other words a company being financially backed by their government, a company outsourcing to Poland , a company who will ask for more money when they realise they can’t do it , a company who could easily deliberately hold back goods until they are paid more... the list goes on and on.

"De La Rue is the largest commercial passport manufacturer in the world and supplies passports to more than 40 countries around the world. It has been producing British passports from its Gateshead factory for the last 10 years and last year produced its 40 millionth document.

Around 600 people work at the Gateshead plant, around 100 of them in the passport division. Mr Sutherland refused to say whether losing the contract would put jobs at risk but did say the company would have to find new work."

De La Rue obviously put in bids for contracts in 40 other countries and won them. They know what the bidding process entails.