This British "blue passport" obsession has been going for a long time. House of Commons debate on the EEC, 1975, Reginald Maudling, then in opposition --
There was a small point which arose in Rome concerning passports, and I did not understand it. It was suggested in the Press that some new European passport is to take the place of the British passport. I would regret that very much. I still cling, old-fashioned as I am, to the British passport and to the words which refer to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State requesting and requiring, in the name of the Queen, that people should give us facilities. I hope that that will not be abandoned. If it is, it will be one of those examples of people trying to substitute for the substance of European unity a form of unity which pleases and helps no one.
Above, Bernadette Devlin speaking to reporters after slapping Maudling on the floor of the House of Commons after Bloody Sunday in 1972.
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