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Brexit blue British passports ‘will be made in Poland’

Composite picture of an old British passport (left) and a burgundy UK passport in the European Union style format. The Government has "no immediate plans" to reintroduce the traditional navy blue British passports in the wake of Brexit.
Composite picture of an old British passport (left) and a burgundy UK passport in the European Union style format (Picture: Getty)

New blue UK passports being brought in after Brexit are being manufactured in Poland, it has been revealed.

The passports will be issued for the first time in almost three decades from next month to mark Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Championed by Brexiteers, the new-look documents will replace the burgundy passports which were rolled out in 1988.

But the passports will be made in a factory in Tczew, Poland, and not in the UK after the right to produce them was won by French company Thales, the Times reported.

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Home Secretary Priti Patel is show posing with a blue UK passport (Picture: PA)
Home Secretary Priti Patel is show posing with a blue UK passport (Picture: PA)

Thales has chosen to produce the passports in a factory in Poland and then send them to the UK to be personalised.

The French company beat British firm De La Rue to the £260 million contract in 2018.

De La Rue boss Martin Sutherland criticised then Prime Minister Theresa May after they lost out on the contract renewal, with the firm later stopping passport printing altogether.

The first new passports will be issued from the beginning of March, and by mid-2020 all new documents will be blue, the Government said.

As well as the colour change, the back cover of the new passports will now feature embossed floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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Home Secretary Priti Patel said that by returning to the “iconic” blue and gold design, the passports will “once again be entwined with our national identity”.

She said: “Leaving the European Union gave us a unique opportunity to restore our national identity and forge a new path in the world.”

Burgundy passports can still be used for travel until they expire.