European Passport (Hansard, 21 May 1981)

§ Q3. Mr. Marlow
asked the Prime Minister whether she will reconsider the decision to introduce a European passport.

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir. As my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal pointed out on 8 April, the proposal is not for a European passport but for a British passport in a European Community common format.

§ Mr. Marlow
Can I say to my right hon. Friend—

§ Mrs.Fenner
No.

§ Mr. Marlow
Can I ask my right hon. Friend—

§ Mrs.Fenner
That is better.

§ Mr. Marlow
—and put a point of view and ask for her response to it—

§ Mrs. Fenner
No.

§ Mr. Marlow
If we have a burgundy coloured passport —

§ Mrs. Fenner
Claret.

§ Mr. Marlow
—with the European Community stamp, whatever anybody says it will be looked upon, not as a British passport, but as a European passport. However far in the future it may be, it will be looked upon by many people as a threat. It will bring joy to very few and offence to a great many people. Can my right hon. Friend put many hearts at rest by saying that she will reconsider her decision and stop the introduction of this European passport?

§ The Prime Minister
The common format is in maroon. The cover bears the Royal Coat of Arms, which, of course, has on the bottom on it, in Latin: Evil be to him who evil thinks". It is headed: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". In very small letters on the top it has "European Community". One needs a magnifying glass to see it. Immediately inside it has the usual rubric, which states: Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

§ Mr. Greville Janner
Rather than worrying about the colour of passports, would it not be better to worry about whether people are free to pass from place to place? On this, the sixtieth birthday of Professor Sakharov, will the right hon. Lady deplore on behalf of all of us his lack of freedom to move out of Gorky and the Soviet Union?

§ The Prime Minister
I gladly join the hon. and learned Gentleman in doing so. I deplore the way in which the Helsinki Accords have not been honoured by the Soviet Union, which signed them.