PASSPORT TO PROBLEMS

A young girl’s passport application was refused because she had bare shoulders in her passport photograph, something that would cause offence to muslims. This is despite the fact that no mention of this is made on the passport application forms. It sounds like bureaucracy gone mad to me. The girl’s mother was told that the Passport Office had rejected other applications because of this. In an age when we even have politically correct bedtime stories for children, this is taking things a bit too far.

Meanwhile Simon Howarth was astonished to receive his new passport, all stamped with his name and details inside but displaying the photo of a total stranger! The unknown man in the photo had thinning hair, whilst Simon has a full head of hair. It is not known how the error occurred as Simon’s expired passport with his original photo displayed was sent back in the same envelope. This was a massive mistake by the Passport Office, especially in view of the current heightened security measures. The Passport Office dismissed the error as, “a one-off technical printing glitch”. Apparently their engineers are looking into the problem.