{"id":14854,"date":"2018-03-23T14:07:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T14:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14854"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:05","slug":"blue-passports-uk-move-france-de-la-rue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14854","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098It wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen in France\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new blue passports \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a reversion to the iconic passports issued before the UK conformed to EU standards\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are to be made in France.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

British firm De La Rue, which now produces the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s burgundy passports, has this week lost a bid for the contract to make the new blue passports to French-Dutch company Gemalto.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The move puts at least two hundred UK jobs at risk and raised the ire of politicians, trade unions and the public alike who highlighted the irony of jobs being slashed in the UK to manufacture the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own passports abroad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Home Office did not notify De La Rue of the decision before it was made public yesterday (March 22) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the firm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers would discover that their jobs may now be at risk from morning news reports.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Home Office justified the decision by saying the preferred bidder will save the taxpayer \u00c2\u0141120m over the five year contract and added that EU procurement rules require an open bidding process which must allow bids from EU companies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Unite accused the government of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhiding behind EU procurement laws\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, France does not allow other countries to produce its passports on national security grounds\u00e2\u20ac\u201da reason for which the country can be exempted from EU procurement requirements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Downright ludicrous\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Labour MP Liz Twist, whose constituency Blaydon covers the De La Rue factory in Gateshead where the passports are made, slammed the Home Office decision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt a time of heightened international security concerns, it is downright ludicrous to think that our new passports will be produced abroad,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter months of talk about the return to blue British passports, the irony of this decision isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lost on me or my constituents.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer Louisa Bull vowed that Unite would fight the decision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTheresa May and Amber Rudd need to explain to De La Rue workers why \u00e2\u20ac\u0098taking back control\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 means their jobs could be put at risk while the production of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new iconic passport is shipped overseas to France,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen in France because of national security and it shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen in the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bDe La Rue is the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leading security printer making bank notes as well as passports sustaining thousands of decent jobs in the UK.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMinisters need to reverse this decision and start supporting British business and UK workers through public procurement and an industrial strategy which is more than just soundbites.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since news of De La Rue losing its contract to produce passports emerged yesterday (March 22), Unite has sought meetings with DeLa Rue and the Home Office as a matter of urgency.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite, together with the Mirror and the GMB have also set up a petition<\/a> which has received nearly 4,000 signatures in a matter of hours.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Not about Brexit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said the latest controversy is \u00e2\u20ac\u0098not about Brexit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 nor about \u00e2\u20ac\u0098red versus blue.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about saving decent British jobs, plain and simple,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt least two hundred jobs are now at risk because the Tory government thinks it is best to ask a French-based company to make UK passport.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have the decency to inform the company.\u00c2\u00a0 Workers learned of their fate when they turned on their radios yesterday morning,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bEven for Theresa May\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s calamity Conservatives, this one takes the biscuit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Unite general secretary highlighted that De La Rue had been producing passports for the last decade, and in that time \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthere has never been a hitch, delay or security breach.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve recently won the contract to print bank notes for the Bank of England,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat is fit for the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is surely fit for our citizens?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInstead of taking back control, the government is doing things on the cheap,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorkers in Gateshead, West Houghton and Bath will pay the price with their jobs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll all pick up the bill for lost taxes being paid in the UK.\u00c2\u00a0 I can hear Monsieur Macron laughing all the way over the Channel as he counts the cents that will roll into his Treasury.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He urged Prime Minister Theresa May to reverse the decision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hide behind the EU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skirts this time\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this was your government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision alone,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat was done in no 10 can be undone in No 10. So back Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers and make our passports truly something to be proud of.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can help with Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s joint campaign with the GMB and Daily Mirror by signing our petition<\/a> calling on the Home Office to keep production of\u00c2\u00a0 British passports in Britain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new blue passports \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a reversion to the iconic passports issued before the UK conformed to EU standards\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are to be made in France.   British firm De La Rue, which now produces the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s burgundy passports, has this week lost a bid for the contract to make the new blue passports to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[486,891,887],"wps_subtitle":"Unite slams plan to move UK passport makers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26318,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14854\/revisions\/26318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}