So far, the only post-Brexit certainty seems to be that we will have blue passports. But on 22 March, it emerged that De La Rue, the company that currently supplies UK passports, has lost the contract. From 2019, Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto will make UK passports. The Daily Mail went into meltdown about this.
Their front page claims “Britain’s ruling class” is full of “hate” and that ministers should “Stand up for Britain”. People on social media have been quick to point out the irony.
“Why do you hate our country?”
The Daily Mail seems a little bit cross:
I love it when the Daily Mail has one of its little meltdowns pic.twitter.com/7gaTsOJFYE
— Dave Jones (@WelshGasDoc) March 22, 2018
I know, I know…low hanging fruit. But tomorrow's Mail. Would this be the same fucking "Ruling Class" that the Mail has lobbied for again and again and again in every election since I was born? pic.twitter.com/8dKXlk6y0w
— Danny Baker (@prodnose) March 22, 2018
But in 2010, the Mail was critical when De La Rue got the contract in the first place. Apparently, De la Rue cost “taxpayers £100million more than a rival Greater Manchester-based company, which has made our passports for the past 40 years”.
Well this is pretty funny too, Today, the Daily Mail has a screaming headline 'Stand up for Britain' and yet back in 2010 they were moaning about the incumbents, De La Rue, getting the contract! https://t.co/kZLUoqOzeO
— Alasdair Murray – the Recruitment Copywriter (@RecruitmentCopy) March 23, 2018
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg:
The joke that is government procurement has cost us billions in bad decisions over a number of decades, but the blue passports being made in France was the first and last straw for the Daily Mail
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) March 22, 2018
People have pointed out other inconsistencies in the Mail‘s xenophobic ‘logic’:
https://twitter.com/Daniel_Sugarman/status/976965453787561984
I'm so glad the Daily Mail have overreacted to passports being produced abroad. They won't do that again now they've read tweets by clever people pointing out that the Royal Family is German.
— Richard Parfitt (@RichieParf) March 22, 2018
Own goal
The Daily Mail is edited by Paul Dacre and owned by Viscount Rothermere. The Guardian has suggested Dacre may be “the most dangerous man in Britain”. In 2016, after emphatic support for Brexit, the Mail described Remainers as “saboteurs” and High Court judges who ruled on Article 50 as “enemies”. Its reporting was condemned by The Guardian after a High Court ruling:
with many claiming it was inciting hatred with its front page story, which carried the headline ‘Enemies of the people’, alongside images of the three judges.
So its current front page has provoked quite a reaction. Because the Mail seems confused about who it actually does support now and how post-Brexit economics might work:
https://twitter.com/lorraine_milton/status/977175647473881088
Daily Mail can't understand a French company got passports contract cause they offered more money.
De La Rue were simply outbid, the simplest rule of business ever.
Being British isn't enough to secure a contract, something that might come as a shock to many post-Brexit. https://t.co/drNSuRymGf
— ryan (@89rjg) March 23, 2018
My question to the Daily Mail would be why do they hate this country ?
— isleofwight (@isle0fwight) March 22, 2018
Although as others pointed out, this front page is actually a welcome break:
At least every day the Daily Mail spends on tirades against people who make British passports is a day they aren't spending on tirades against people who don't have British passports https://t.co/QYu8LJeNgR
— Rob Ford (@robfordmancs) March 23, 2018
If nothing else, the Daily Mail excels in stirring up hate. This time, their hatred seems to be a bit of an own goal. Well done.
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Featured image via Kerry-Anne Mendoza
