British passports 'could change back to navy blue colour after Brexit vote'

'Old blue': The Home Office is considering bring back the traditional colour
PA
Chloe Chaplain14 September 2016
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The traditional blue British passport may make a comeback after Brexit, a minister has revealed.

There have been calls for the navy coloured design to be brought back following the vote for Britain to leave the EU.

And now Government ministers have confirmed they are “considering” the change.

In response to a written question in the Commons yesterday, Home Office minister Robert Goodwill said: "We are considering potential changes to the UK passport after the UK has left the European Union.

"At this early stage we have not undertaken a detailed cost benefit analysis or made any decisions about what a future UK passport might look like."

Burgundy document: UKIP leader Nigel Farage used the EU passport as a campaign prop leading up to the referendum
AFP/Getty Images

Conservative MP for Solihull Julian Knight, who asked the question in Parliament, said the blue passport is a “a symbol of our independence as a strong, proud nation.”

Mr Knight, who campaigned to remain in the EU, added: "There are many people who missed the original blue passport – they like the feel, the look of it – and now we have voted to leave the European Union it seems to be a good time to review when we should introduce our own passport.

"I think it would be a symbol of our independence as a country and accepting a new era."

The blue passports were introduced in 1921 but were scrapped in favour of machine readable Burgundy-coloured documents in 1988.

Since the referendum result in June, the colour of UK passports has been the centre of intense debate over what best “represents” the country.

In the last days of the Brexit campaign, UKIP leader Nigel Farage used his passport as a prop while arguing for the UK to leave the EU, saying: “This should be a British passport; it says ‘European Union’ on it.”

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