Tory contract is a passport to lunacy
Over the past 18 months following Brexit, I have been really mistrustful of this Tory Government’s handling of the negotiations.
I voted to remain in the EU and now, having heard that our first international trade deal is to transfer production of the new blue passports – a symbol of Brexit – from Britain to France, it seems I was right to be suspicious. What a farce!
The very place we decided to leave is now taking jobs from a British manufacturer. Makes you proud to be British, doesn’t it? So much for rule Britannia! Mark Tate, Bradford, West Yorks
Why do Government contracts, such as the new British passport, have to be decided by blind tender? We’ve been told that it is, inexplicably, a requirement of EU legislation.
Even if we weren’t officially leaving the EU, I’d have thought that, for security reasons, it’d be wiser to limit tenders to UK firms.
This is presumably the view shared by the French, who are alleged to have allowed only French firms to tender for their passport contract, despite their
entrenched EU membership. John Shale, Wigan When this country finally leaves the EU, British firms will be struggling to find contracts to keep the economy afloat. So, what do the Tories do? Apply their usual shortterm, quick-fix methods and give the contract for the new passports to the Yes. We should walk away and then begin the trade talks. The current approach by May isn’t working. PARY MOPPINS No. We’re already acting like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Leaving without a deal would just compound this. LEO RICHARDSON Yes. Any deal we’d get now would just be the EU vindictively punishing us for leaving the club. DANIEL DEFOE Yes. If we’re going it alone then we should do it with our heads held high. PAULA CLANDON No. A “no deal” Brexit will see the end of large scale motor manufacturing in the UK with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. PRAGMATICS No. No deal is just code for cutting off our nose to spite our own face. FELICITY SHAW French. Do these dimwits not realise that this is putting British jobs at risk? It’s Bombardier and the steel industry all over again. This bunch of heartless idiots are not fit run a fairground ride, let alone the country. Alan Sixsmith, Barnsley South Yorks
I have heard it said before about the Tories that they know the price of everything but the value of nothing. This seems to be true considering that the contract for making the new blue passports will go to a French firm, meaning the Government will miss out on tax and wages that would have been spent here in Britain helping to support other British jobs. This is a stupid idea. Trevor Davis, Kidderminster, Worcs
How much longer have we to put up with this Government’s actions in not supporting British companies and jobs? Brexit cannot be blamed for this contract going abroad. Please can we have another election soon? Margaret Green, Thorne South Yorks Now that the new blue passports we will be issued with after we leave the EU are to be made in France, it just goes to show what a farce this whole saga has become. This means the passports we have now will be more British than the ones that they will be replaced by. I wonder what Nigel Farage and co will make of that? Stuart Slinn, Chesterfield Derbys Whether Brexit will work or not only time will tell. The EU is demanding countless billions of pounds for us to leave, but what do the Tories do? Take the bread out of the mouths of our workers by moving passport production to France. This is a betrayal. J Bennett, Dagenham Gtr London