Lord Lee of Trafford
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date they intend to introduce new United Kingdom passports; and what will be the status of existing passports after 29 March 2019.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)
My Lords, when the UK leaves the EU, the current burgundy design will be issued without reference to the European Union, and a new “Brit blue” passport will be introduced from late 2019. Existing UK passports conform to all requirements for international travel documents. There is no reason for a country to refuse to accept UK passports, nor indeed is it in their interests to make it harder for British travellers to enter their country.
Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
I thank my fellow Traffordian for that Answer. Exchanging a passport granting access to 28 countries for one allowing access to only one, and paying £500 million for the privilege, must go down as one of the worst deals in history. Could we not be allowed to choose the colour of our own new passports? If we were, I would chose black, as Brexit is a black day for this country and a black day for future generations.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
It is all relative in your Lordships’ House.
It is not the case that we are going from 28 countries to one country because, of course, we need a passport to go to any country. As to choosing the colour, I have thought about this, and people can have any colour passport that they wish—they just need to buy a passport cover. As for which colour the noble Lord might like, I have looked at different colour passports and there are some rather nice yellow ones. One has a picture of SpongeBob SquarePants, but the noble Lord might prefer the one with the bird on it. Unfortunately, the bird is Tweetie Pie.
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Baroness can help me on the issue of citizenship, as raised by the noble Lord, regarding the onward movement of UK citizens in Europe following Brexit. It is the question that I asked the noble Baroness the Leader of the House on the Prime Minister’s Statement this week. In the withdrawal agreement published in February, Article 32 makes it clear that there will be no onward movement for UK citizens, thus disadvantaging UK citizens post Brexit, but in the more recent update of the same document, Article 32 has completely disappeared. The document goes from Article 31 to Article 33 and makes no reference to the onward movement of UK citizens, so we really do not know where we are. Are the Government still negotiating? Is there a possibility that they will go back to the table, renegotiate and that UK citizens might have the same benefits post Brexit as before? Or have they just conceded the point and did not want to put that in the document?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The noble Baroness might have asked that question in the following Question but I am quite happy to deal with it in this one. I understand that my noble friend the Leader of the House is writing to the noble Baroness on this subject. Of course, such detail is subject to negotiation, but it is in the interest of both the UK and the EU for there to be free movement of UK citizens to other EU states.
Baroness Smith of Basildon
I do not think the noble Baroness has quite got the point I made. The updated document contains issues that are subject to negotiation and issues that have been agreed. What has happened is that that article has disappeared from the document entirely. What does that mean?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
It means that it will be subject to negotiations between this country and the EU. The noble Baroness has asked me about a specific point and, as well as my noble friend the Leader writing to her, I shall follow it up.
Lord Marlesford (Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend recognise that much more important than the colour of passports is the urgent need, in the interests of national security, to review the whole way in which passports are used? First, there is still not full scrutiny of all passports on departure. Secondly, information on the passports of those who have been excluded or deported is not recorded in such a way that immigration officers can see it and stop them coming in. Thirdly, there is no proper recording of stolen or lost passports with the immigration officers. Fourthly, information on people with second passports is not recorded and not available to immigration officers, who therefore lack the ability to check on the security implications of some movements.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
My noble friend asked several questions. It is perfectly legitimate, for most countries, to own two passports if someone has dual nationality. In the case of stolen or lost passports, that should be declared to the passport authorities. On being deported, some people who have been deported will be on the list that border officials will have; others will not, of course, but the security services will certainly be aware of them. On the question about not all passports being checked on exit from this country, I think that most are. I do not know of a situation where one’s passport would not be checked when leaving this country.
Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)
I appreciate that my noble friend’s Question applies to all travellers, but I am particularly concerned about the ability of performers and technicians to move freely between the UK and Europe for creative activities, unencumbered by red tape and, crucially, at short notice. Does the Minister agree that, whatever the colour of the passport, there should be an EU-wide touring passport?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
I thought the noble Baroness said a “Tory” passport, but I think she actually said “touring” passport. Of course, everyone in their line of work or indeed, for leisure, should be allowed to move freely. The December Statement by the Prime Minister made it quite clear that that is exactly what she seeks.
Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab)
I do not really care what colour the passport is; I would just like a system that works. Can the Minister recall that on 12 March, I suggested to her colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Young, that we would never have a system that works in the absence of fully biometric passports, visas and ID cards? In the light of the news this morning that over the past two years there have been 600,000 visitors to this country for whom the immigration department has no evidence of exit, and a separate 210,000 for whom it has evidence of exit but did not know they had come to this country in the first place, will the noble Baroness consider bringing in a comprehensive biometric system to protect this country and manage immigration in and emigration out?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The noble Lord is of course right that we need a system that works. There will be enhanced biometric elements in the new passport, and we constantly update the passport to keep it secure and the details required to be on it up to date.