Profile picture
Mark McCaughrean @markmccaughrean
, 9 tweets, 5 min read Read on Twitter
We're lost if even the @guardian begins repeating Brexiteer propaganda as the truth. So much of this "blue passport" story is complete twaddle. 1/ #FBPE theguardian.com/politics/2017/…
The underlying drive to common passport formats comes from the International Civil Aviation Organization, not the EU. 2/ #FBPE en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine-r…
The EU has a common format, but it was adopted by recommendation & consensus, not directive. The UK was always free to have a different format & indeed does: along with Ireland, a UK biometric passport does not contain fingerprint info. 3/ #FBPE en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric…
And as for the burgundy colour, derided by Tory nationalists as "pink", that's optional too: Croatia is an EU country & has a dark blue biometric passport. /4 #FBPE en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_…
On top of which, the older UK hardback format (which won't be allowed by ICAO rules, not EU) was only introduced in the 20s & was blue-black, not the much lighter blue being shown in news pix. /5 #FBPE bbc.co.uk/news/uk-110877…
And as well as repeating this kind of hysterically bilious, nationalist garbage from a Tory nutjob, how about some comments from the majority of us who simply couldn't care less what colour our passport is? /6 #FBPE
The humiliation will come from realising that this new "patriotic passport" represents a citizenship that is more isolated, reactionary, & racist, & with fewer rights, privileges, & freedoms than before. /7 #FBPE
All so, at best, a few old white men can stand astride their toy train sets & declare themselves masters of a fantasy empire, & at worst, so they can rip off the country with their billionaire media owner friends & neoliberal vulture mates. /8 #FBPE
It's this kind of idiotic jingoistic demagoguery that increases the chances of autocracy & nationalism leading to fascism & war, exactly what the EU was established for, to prevent happening again. That's why I'm proud of my EU passport, regardless of the bloody colour. 9/9 #FBPE
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Mark McCaughrean
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!