18 September 2006
Holidaymakers returning to work or school after the summer would do well to renew their passports before putting them away for another year because, from October 5th, the price of an adult passport will be raised again - from £51 to £66 [1]. In future, a 'premium service' (one day) renewal will cost £108 for adults and £93 for children.
This 57% increase in 10 months - a doubling of the price since October 2003 [2] - is actually being driven by the ID cards scheme and will not be the last, according to privacy and civil liberties campaigners, who warn that from next year children over 16 applying for their first adult passport will be forced to attend an interview at one of 69 new 'enrolment' centres [3].
Phil Booth, NO2ID [4] National Coordinator said:
"Under this government, the price of your passport has more than tripled. And the £100 passport is just around the corner, once it forces people to be registered for an ID card at renewal.
"Now they'll be interrogating kids, yet another so-called 'security measure' that will cause just as much mayhem as the ridiculous new rules on photos this summer [5]. How many hoops must law-abiding British citizens jump through for the convenience of computers and officials on an ID power trip?
"It's only common sense to renew your passport now [6] and buy yourself and your family 10 years' freedom from untold bureaucracy, punitive charges, invasion of privacy and the inevitable IT and administrative failures as the government merges our passports with its catastrophic ID scheme."
- ENDS -
Notes for editors
1) http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/66522.html - 'Second jump in passport cost to £66 branded a tax on holidays', 25/7/06
2) The government first claimed it was introducing anti-fraud measures such as microchips and biometrics in October 2003. In fact, a big chunk of the 2003 rise went to pay off debt to the Treasury after UKPS's 1999 computer crisis: http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=2581¶sStartAt=0
3) As announced with minimal fanfare in a Home Office press release today, 18/9/06: 'No idea where your ID is?' - http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/where-is-your-id
4) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=390116&in_page_id=1770 - '10,000 a week have passport applications rejected over photo rule', 11/6/06 and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=405596&in_page_id=1770 - 'Six-year-old has passport rejected for being too pale', 18/9/06
5) NO2ID is the UK-wide, non-partisan campaign against compulsory ID cards and the National Identity Register, see http://www.no2id.net
6) 'Renew for Freedom'campaign - http://www.renewforfreedom.org/index.html
The NO2ID Campaign
Box 412
19-21 Crawford Street
London W1H 1PJ
enquiries@no2id.net
Tel: 07005 800 651
Press: click here
