EXPLAIN YOURSELF
MANAGER AT PASSPORT PLANT SENDS OUT INVITE TO MRS MAY
Prime Minister urged to tell Tyneside workers why UK passport printing will be moved to France
PRIME Minister Theresa May has been urged to explain to workers on Tyneside why the post-Brexit blue passport will be made in France.
The contract to manufacture the document, which Brexiteers see as a symbol of the UK’s regained independence, is set to be awarded to Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto rather than De La Rue’s Gateshead plant.
De La Rue boss Martin Sutherland said the Home Office had confirmed the move to him, although ministers denied the process was complete.
The move has been condemned by Brexiteers and Mr Sutherland called on the Prime Minister or Home Secretary Amber Rudd to explain their decision to his workers.
Mr Sutherland said: “We have a very skilled, proud workforce in Gateshead and I am going to have face those workers, look at them in the whites of the eyes and try to explain to them why the Government thinks it’s a sensible decision to buy French passports, not British Passports.
“I would like to invite Theresa May or Amber Rudd to come to my factory and explain to my dedicated workforce why they think this is a sensible decision to offshore the manufacture of a British icon.”
De La Rue is the largest commercial passport manufacturer in the world and supplies passports to more than 40 countries around the world. It has been producing British passports from its Gateshead factory for the last 10 years and last year produced its 40 millionth document.
Around 600 people work at the Gateshead plant, around 100 of them in the passport division. Mr Sutherland refused to say whether losing the contract would put jobs at risk but did say the company would have to find new work.
De La Rue is now looking to appeal against the tender decision and has
invited Prime Minister Theresa May to the factory to explain the decision.
The news has been described as “devastating” by Blaydon MP Liz Twist, who is demanding a meeting with Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
She said: “This is devastating news for my constituents who work at De La Rue and a massive blow to the reputation of British business. At such a defining moment in our history, this sends out completely the wrong message and will reduce our standing in Europe and the world.
“At a time of heightened international security concerns, it is downright ludicrous to think that our new passports will be produced abroad. After months of talk about the return to blue British passports, the irony of this decision isn’t lost on me or my constituents.”
Unite union national officer Louisa Bull said: “Theresa May and Amber Rudd need to explain to De La Rue workers why ‘taking back control’ means their jobs could be put at risk while the production of Britain’s new iconic passport is shipped to France.
“It wouldn’t happen in France because of national security and it shouldn’t happen in the UK. De La Rue is the UK’s leading security printer, making banknotes as well as passports sustaining thousands jobs. Ministers need to reverse this decision.”