§ Q11. Mr. Robert Hughesasked the Prime Minister if she will make 1 January 1984 the target date for the introduction of new style British passports bearing the title European Community; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterWe intend to introduce the common format passport at the same time as we adopt the International Civil Aviation Organisation's recommendations for a passport in a simplified standardised format with machine-readable capability. A considerable amount of work is needed to assess the costs and the technical problems involved, and until this has been done, it is not possible for the Government to set a date for the change in the format of the United Kingdom passports.