§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether British nationals who wish to retain a United Kingdom passport rather than change to the EC model will be permitted to do so.
Earl FerrersThe new-style, red, machine readable United Kingdom passport is in a format agreed with our European Community partners. All regional offices of the United Kingdom Passport Agency now issue only the new-style passport, although old-style blue passports which were previously issued will remain valid until their normal date of expiry.