Today the home office dropped a bombshell we'd all seen coming. A passport application loophole, first highlighted by Frederick Forsyth in his 1971 novel Day of the Jackal, was used by an estimated 10,000 people last year to fraudulently obtain British passports. See the story here.It's been confirmed that amongst these crooks were at least two active Al Qaeda operatives. Convicted terrorists who were given the rights and privileges of British Subjects.
No wonder the Americans are wary of people with British passports. There I was, complaining bitterly that my green card took three and a half years to find it's way into my hands. Then I discover that 10,000 people a year steal British passports and do God knows what with them.
No wonder the Americans are wary. Richard Colvin Reid, the famous "shoebomber" was a Brit. England is the breeding ground for Islamic Fundamentalism. The London Tube bombers were all born and bred in England.
And now it seems you don't even need to be British to have a British passport. A loophole identified in the 70's has been exploited for almost four decades. 10,000 people managed to wrangle British passports last year. Does that mean 400,000 people now have British passports based on fraudulent applications?
It's sad that my passport, that beloved little red book - once one of my most prized possessions, is now an object of international ridicule.
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