Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with cabinet colleagues about the potential impact on the a) effectiveness and b) future of the Common Travel Area between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland of the insistence of airlines that passengers travelling between both countries now require valid passports.

The Common Travel Area is a long-standing successful arrangement. In the UK-Ireland 2030 Joint Statement, the Prime Minister and Taoiseach committed to working together to protect the integrity and security of the Common Travel Area. It is the case that many air and sea carriers require some form of identification in order to use their services and some carriers regard a passport as the only valid form of identification.