Daily Mail Headline;says: 'Mention of the Queen could be removed from British passports and replaced by a page explaining why all EU citizens are entitled to use our embassies abroad, it emerged yesterday. Current UK passports contain a traditional message from the British sovereign printed inside the front cover requesting 'assistance and protection' for the holder anywhere in the world 'in the Name of Her Majesty'.But the time-honoured passage could be dropped as a result of the new European Treaty - which critics claim is simply a repackaged version of the discredited EU Constitution. A new message would set out rules under which any EU citizen who gets into trouble in a country where their own state has no representative can go to the British embassy and demand help.
The proposals attracted fierce criticism yesterday, with opposition critics claiming there was no good reason to ditch the traditional wording and warning that the plans highlighted the importance of giving British voters a say in a referendum on the Treaty - which Gordon Brown is refusing to allow. Brussels forced Britain to change its passports 20 years ago when the popular 'Old Blue' hardback documents were abandoned in favour of a smaller, flimsier, standardised burgundy design. But the passage of text - which originated more than three centuries ago when the monarch stopped signing every passport in person - survived that change, as well as the subsequent addition of security features.
