Our passports should be made in BRITAIN: De La Rue in court battle to make Blue passports
MANUFACTURER De La Rue is preparing a legal challenge against the Government’s decision to award the contract to make the new blue British passports to a Franco-Dutch company following Brexit.
Labour's Keir Starmer backs plans for UK-made passports
De La Rue confirmed yesterday it was taking the first steps towards launching a judicial review in the High Court against the decision.
De La Rue told the Financial Times that it was taking the first steps towards initiating a judicial review in the High Court against the provisional decision to award the contract to the part state-owned company.
Meanwhile the Home Office extended the deadline for legal challenges until April 17 as De La Rue asked for more details about the circumstances under which the decision was made.
A demonstrator protests against the decision to award the contract to Gemalto
Based on our knowledge of the market, it’s our view that ours was the highest quality and technically most secure bid.
At the time the decision was announced, Immigration minister Caroline Notes told the House of Commons: “We had to look at quality, security and price, and this was the contract that provided the best value on all counts.”
However, De La Rue executives claim Gemalto won the contract, worth close to £400m, purely as a result of undercutting rival bids.
The Home Office as estimated the move will save £120m over the 11-year life of the deal compared with the alternatives.
A De La Rue spokesman said: “Based on our knowledge of the market, it’s our view that ours was the highest quality and technically most secure bid.
PM Theresa May has said the new blue passport "reasserts British independence"
“In the light of this, we are confident that we remain the best and most secure option in the national interest.”
De La Rue has held the contract for producing UK passports for eight years.
British passports were made by a state-owned company called Security Printing and Systems Limited until its privatisation in 1996.
Shares in De La Rue fell by 6 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the announcement that Gemalto had won the contract.
The contract has been awarded to Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto
Gemalto, which is headquartered in Paris, already produces the British photo driving licence and already has several UK sites.
The new passports are expected to be made in factories in Heywood and Fareham, generating 70 new jobs – although these could be offset by job losses at De Le Rue.
Company executives are also angry because it is barred from bidding to make French and German passport as these countries invoke national security exemptions.
Blue cover passports were first used in 1921, with burgundy-coloured EU-style passports only being introduced in this country in 1988.
Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer is among those who have criticised the decision
At the time the move was announced, Mrs May said the document was an “expression of our independence and sovereignty”.
Priti Patel, former international development secretary, and Keir Starmer, shadow Brexit secretary, have both criticised the decision.
Mr Starmer said: “The passport is such an important issue. Of course, it should be a British company.”