British Prime Minister, Theresa May's tweet regarding British passports returning to their original form has left many baffled. The old passport, appearing to be black in colour, will now become blue post-Brexit to symbolise Britain's new “independence and sovereignty”, confusing many as it looks different from the “iconic” passport ministers had promised to reintroduce.
TV journalist, Michael Crick said, “Having fished out my old passport, it's also wrong to describe that as blue. It looks black to me, and that's how any witness would describe it in court.”
The Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson also tweeted with a passport picture of her younger self. She said, “This blue passport campaign's baffling... I had to go back and check as I always thought it was black.”
The old passport was introduced in 1920 after the League of Nations agreed global standards for design. In 1988, Britain adopted the burgundy passports part of a standardisation of European Union travel documents. The colour, however, was optional and it was for the government that decided to change it, not the EU.
The shadow Brexit minister, Paul Blomfield said, “The Tories claimed the new passport was a symbol of restoring UK sovereignty. But it has quickly become a symbol of the government's incompetence instead. First, Boris Johnson wrongly claimed that the EU had imposed red passports. Now they've been caught out for getting the colour wrong.”
