New blue British passport rollout to begin in March - BBC News

The first blue British passports for nearly 30 years will be issued next month, the Home Office has said.

The current burgundy design is being replaced, following the UK's departure from the European Union.

Blue passports were introduced in 1921 and phased out after 1988 when members of the then European Economic Community agreed to harmonise designs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the passport will "once again be entwined with our national identity".

She said Brexit had given the UK "a unique opportunity to... forge a new path in the world" and enabled a return to "the iconic blue and gold design".

The UK was never formally compelled to change the colour of its passport in the 1980s but did so with other member states.

Securing a change in the design became a rallying point for Brexit supporters, with the government announcing in December 2017 that the blue passport would return.

'Super-strength'

The government estimates that all newly-issued passports will be blue from the summer.

Until then, they will be issued alongside burgundy passports, which will remain valid for travel until they expire.

The UK burgundy passports carried the wording European Union on the cover, although the Passport Office last year began to issue them without such a description as older stocks ran out.

The blue passports will be made by Gemalto, owned by French firm Thales. However, they will be personalised with the holder's details in the UK.

The back cover will carry an embossment featuring the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The Home Office said the manufacturing carbon footprint of the passports will be reduced to net zero, through projects such as planting trees.

It added the new passport will carry updated security features, including a "super-strength" polycarbonate data page, containing embedded technologies to keep personal data secure, and involve the "most secure printing and design techniques" to combat identity theft and forgery.

---

What's in a colour?

According to the Passport Index, 81 countries have blue passports, including Australia, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong.

Several Caribbean countries also favour them, including Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Europe, people from Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina carry blue passports, while it is a popular colour in central and south America - including in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Other nations to have blue passports include Israel, Iraq, Syria and North Korea.

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2020-02-22 08:57:52Z
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New blue British passport rollout to begin in March - BBC News

The first blue British passports for nearly 30 years will be issued next month, the Home Office has said.

The current burgundy design is being replaced, following the UK's departure from the European Union.

Blue passports were introduced in 1921 and phased out after 1988 when members of the then European Economic Community agreed to harmonise designs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the passport will "once again be entwined with our national identity".

She said Brexit had given the UK "a unique opportunity to... forge a new path in the world" and enabled a return to "the iconic blue and gold design".

The UK was never formally compelled to change the colour of its passport in the 1980s but did so with other member states.

Securing a change in the design became a rallying point for Brexit supporters, with the government announcing in December 2017 that the blue passport would return.

'Super-strength'

The government estimates that all newly-issued passports will be blue from the summer.

Until then, they will be issued alongside burgundy passports, which will remain valid for travel until they expire.

The UK burgundy passports carried the wording European Union on the cover, although the Passport Office last year began to issue them without such a description as older stocks ran out.

The blue passports will be made by Gemalto, owned by French firm Thales. However, they will be personalised with the holder's details in the UK.

The back cover will carry an embossment featuring the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The Home Office said the manufacturing carbon footprint of the passports will be reduced to net zero, through projects such as planting trees.

It added the new passport will carry updated security features, including a "super-strength" polycarbonate data page, containing embedded technologies to keep personal data secure, and involve the "most secure printing and design techniques" to combat identity theft and forgery.

---

What's in a colour?

According to the Passport Index, 81 countries have blue passports, including Australia, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong.

Several Caribbean countries also favour them, including Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Europe, people from Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina carry blue passports, while it is a popular colour in central and south America - including in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Other nations to have blue passports include Israel, Iraq, Syria and North Korea.

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2020-02-22 08:49:19Z
52780626153575

New blue British passport rollout to begin in March - BBC News

The first blue British passports for nearly 30 years will be issued next month, the Home Office has said.

The current burgundy design is being replaced, following the UK's departure from the European Union.

Blue passports were introduced in 1921 and phased out after 1988 when members of the then European Economic Community agreed to harmonise designs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the passport will "once again be entwined with our national identity".

She said Brexit had given the UK "a unique opportunity to... forge a new path in the world" and enabled a return to "the iconic blue and gold design".

The UK was never formally compelled to change the colour of its passport in the 1980s but did so with other member states.

Securing a change in the design became a rallying point for Brexit supporters, with the government announcing in December 2017 that the blue passport would return.

'Super-strength'

The government estimates that all newly-issued passports will be blue from the summer.

Until then, they will be issued alongside burgundy passports, which will remain valid for travel until they expire.

The UK burgundy passports carried the wording European Union on the cover, although the Passport Office last year began to issue them without such a description as older stocks ran out.

The blue passports will be made by Gemalto, owned by French firm Thales. However, they will be personalised with the holder's details in the UK.

The back cover will carry an embossment featuring the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The Home Office said the manufacturing carbon footprint of the passports will be reduced to net zero, through projects such as planting trees.

It added the new passport will carry updated security features, including a "super-strength" polycarbonate data page, containing embedded technologies to keep personal data secure, and involve the "most secure printing and design techniques" to combat identity theft and forgery.

---

What's in a colour?

According to the Passport Index, 81 countries have blue passports, including Australia, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong.

Several Caribbean countries also favour them, including Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Europe, people from Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina carry blue passports, while it is a popular colour in central and south America - including in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Other nations to have blue passports include Israel, Iraq, Syria and North Korea.

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2020-02-22 08:21:04Z
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New blue British passport rollout to begin in March - BBC News

The first blue British passports for nearly 30 years will be issued next month, the Home Office has said.

The current burgundy design is being replaced, following the UK's departure from the European Union.

Blue passports were introduced in 1921 and phased out after 1988 when members of the then European Economic Community agreed to harmonise designs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the passport will "once again be entwined with our national identity".

She said Brexit had given the UK "a unique opportunity to... forge a new path in the world" and enabled a return to "the iconic blue and gold design".

The UK was never formally compelled to change the colour of its passport in the 1980s but did so with other member states.

Securing a change in the design became a rallying point for Brexit supporters, with the government announcing in December 2017 that the blue passport would return.

'Super-strength'

The government estimates that all newly-issued passports will be blue from the summer.

Until then, they will be issued alongside burgundy passports, which will remain valid for travel until they expire.

The UK burgundy passports carried the wording European Union on the cover, although the Passport Office last year began to issue them without such a description as older stocks ran out.

The blue passports will be made by Gemalto, owned by French firm Thales. However, they will be personalised with the holder's details in the UK.

The back cover will carry an embossment featuring the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The Home Office said the manufacturing carbon footprint of the passports will be reduced to net zero, through projects such as planting trees.

It added the new passport will carry updated security features, including a "super-strength" polycarbonate data page, containing embedded technologies to keep personal data secure, and involve the "most secure printing and design techniques" to combat identity theft and forgery.

---

What's in a colour?

According to the Passport Index, 81 countries have blue passports, including Australia, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong.

Several Caribbean countries also favour them, including Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Europe, people from Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina carry blue passports, while it is a popular colour in central and south America - including in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Other nations to have blue passports include Israel, Iraq, Syria and North Korea.

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2020-02-22 07:43:39Z
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UK says Russia's GRU behind massive Georgia cyber-attack - BBC News

A huge cyber-attack which knocked out more than 2,000 websites in the country of Georgia last year was carried out by Russia, according to Georgia, the UK and the US.

The UK government says that the GRU (Russian military intelligence) was behind the "attempt to undermine Georgia's sovereignty".

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described it as "totally unacceptable".

Russia's Foreign Ministry denied any involvement, the RIA news agency said.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) found that the GRU was "almost certainly" behind the attacks, which affected pages including Georgia's presidential website and the country's national TV broadcaster. It said the attack was the first significant example of GRU cyber-attacks since 2017.

Previous GRU cyber-attacks

• December 2015: An attack on part of Ukraine's electricity grid left 230,000 people without power for between one and six hours
• December 2016: A malware designed specifically to disrupt electricity grids led to a fifth of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv losing power for an hour
• June 2017: A destructive cyber-attack targeted the Ukrainian financial, energy and government sectors. It also affected other European and Russian businesses
• October 2017: The Kyiv metro and Odessa airport, as well as Russia's central bank and two Russian media outlets, were disrupted after ransomware encrypted hard drives

Source: UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The UK said Russia had sought to "sow discord and disrupt the lives of ordinary Georgian people".

"The Russian Government has a clear choice: continue this aggressive pattern of behaviour against other countries, or become a responsible partner which respects international law," Mr Raab said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also condemned the attacks, saying: "The United States calls on Russia to cease this behaviour in Georgia and elsewhere."

In many cases, website homepages were replaced with an image of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the caption "I'll be back".

This is the latest element of an ongoing campaign of pressure by the UK against Russian intelligence since the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury two years ago. The aim is to try and deter Russian activity by exposing it.

A notable aspect of this attribution is that it relates to events which took place relatively recently, in October 2019. One of the targets was Georgian broadcasters.

The GRU's targeting of broadcasters goes back at least to 2015 and a takedown of the French TV5Monde channel. That led to concern about what they might do against other broadcasters in other countries.

This is seen as part of Russia's tactics of hybrid warfare, or grey-zone activities, which are designed to destabilise countries.

The problem for the UK, though, is that so far there is little sign of the GRU being deterred.

A key test will come with the US election this year, and whether it attempts to interfere in that as it was accused of doing in 2016.

"The scale of this attack is something we haven't seen before," Prof Alan Woodward, cyber-security expert at Surrey University in the UK, said at the time of the Georgia attack.

During the brief 2008 Russian-Georgian conflict, Georgia accused Moscow of carrying out cyber-attacks against its government, although Russia denied this.

• Russia puts down deep roots in Georgia
• Georgians mourn Russian land grab

The war broke out after Georgia attempted to recapture South Ossetia, which had fought a separatist war against Georgia in the 1990s. Russian forces then entered the country and seized control of the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Who is Mikheil Saakashvili?

Mr Saakashvili served two terms as president in Georgia between 2004 and 2013.

He gave up his Georgian citizenship in 2015, when he became governor of Ukraine's Odessa region.

He was deported from Ukraine in 2018 after falling out with his predecessor - but his Ukrainian citizenship was restored in May 2019.

Mr Saakashvili is wanted in Georgia on criminal charges, which he claims are politically motivated.

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2020-02-21 04:20:19Z
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British Army officer becomes first woman to pass brutal Para course - BBC News

A British Army officer has become the first woman to pass a gruelling Parachute Regiment entry test.

Capt Rosie Wild, 28, was described as a "trailblazer" after passing the P Company course - which many men fail.

Several women have attempted P Company, also known as the All Arms Pre-Parachute Selection (AAPPS), since they were first able to apply in the 1990s.

Physical challenges across the five days include a timed 20-mile endurance march and an aerial assault course.

Capt Wild was awarded the coveted maroon beret of the Parachute Regiment, or the Paras, on Tuesday - though she will not join the regiment.

She will serve in 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery which is attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade, the Army's rapid reaction force.

Brig John Clark, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said he hoped Capt Wild's achievement "will encourage other women to have a go".

"A more representative force will only make us stronger," he added.

The eight tests in the P Company course involve:

• Marching 10 miles (16km) while carrying a 16kg backpack, in under 1 hour and 50 minutes
• Completing an aerial assault course designed to test a candidate's ability to overcome fear
• Carrying a 60kg telegraph pole as a team of eight soldiers over 1.9miles (3.1km)
• Running two miles (3.2km) with a backpack and rifle, within 18 minutes
• Completing a 2.2-mile steeplechase - a cross-country run followed by an assault course
• "Milling" - a boxing contest in which soldiers have points deducted for dodging or blocking punches
• Marching 20 miles (32km) with a backpack and rifle, within four hours and 10 minutes
• Carrying a 79kg stretcher for more than four miles (8km) as part of a team of 16 soldiers

Capt Wild, who is also a competitive triathlete, joined the Army three years ago.

In 2017 she was presented with the sword of honour at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, given to the best cadet of the intake.

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2020-02-19 14:51:29Z
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UK's cash system 'will collapse without new laws' - BBC News

Campaigners have called for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to save banknotes and coins, saying without urgent new laws the cash system could collapse within a decade.

They want Mr Sunak to take action in his first Budget on 11 March.

"We must ensure the shift to digital doesn't leave millions behind or put our economy at risk," said Natalie Ceeney, of the Access to Cash Review.

The Treasury said it wanted "to ensure everyone who needs cash can access it."

Cash is important to millions of people, who still use it for paying for vital goods and services, such as utility and council bills.

According to the Financial Inclusion Commission, nearly two million people in Britain don't have a bank account, meaning they need notes and coins to pay their way.

There were 11 billion cash payments in the UK in 2018, but they are forecast to fall to 3.8 billion in 2028, accounting for fewer than one in 10 (9%) of all payments.

A cashless society

"The UK is fast becoming a cashless society - without knowing what this really means for consumers or for the UK economy," said Ms Ceeney.

Over the past year, 13% of free-to-use UK cash points have closed, as lower levels of cash use have made them economically unviable. A quarter (25%) of the machines now charge people to withdraw their cash.

The Post Office's cash access service has come under threat. Barclays recently reversed plans to stop customers taking cash out from Post Offices after a backlash.

Long-term access to cash

"The cash network has already been dramatically eroded, and unless urgent action is taken in the Budget, it's clear that it will crumble completely," warned Jenny Ross, Which? Money Editor.

"The new Chancellor must seize this opportunity and guarantee long-term access to cash in the Budget, while developing a clear strategy to ensure that the transition to digital payments doesn't leave anyone behind."

Various initiatives have been set up by the industry to help maintain people's access to cash, including cashback initiatives at local shops and a "request an ATM" service.

But the Access to Cash Review believes the only way to manage the cash system is for the government to legislate and give regulators the tools that they need to protect cash access.

Banks should be forced to provide suitable cash access to their customers, they say.

A spokesman for the Treasury said: "Technology has transformed banking for millions of people, but we know that many still rely on cash.

"That's why we've invested £2bn to ensure everyday banking services are available at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

"We're also working closely with industry and regulators to ensure everyone who needs cash can access it."

A UK Finance spokesman said the banking and finance industry recognises the importance of ensuring cash remains free and widely available for those that continue to need it.

It said the industry has introduced a number of measures to achieve help, including "arrangements by Link to protect free-to-use ATMs in more remote and rural areas and to ensure that every High Street in the UK has free access to cash."

The trade body warned that there is no "one size fits all" approach and understanding the needs of local communities is critical.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) called for financial incentives so smaller businesses could offer partial refunds on goods and services.

Martin McTague, FSB national policy and advocacy chairman, said: "We need to look at how we make offering cashback commercially viable for small businesses. The right financial incentives are a must."

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2020-02-19 11:31:56Z
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