Bit of a fuss this morning as the blue passport will be made by a French / Dutch company. As A Brexit voter I am OK with this. I voted to leave not to cut all ties with the world and if theirs was the superior bid so be it.

The British company were not happy but their spokesman was unable to explain why their bid was substantially higher and waffled that the government should take other things into consideration. (I think he meant we're British so never mind the cost we should have got it)

Hopefully the government will point to this decision as proof we intend to continue trading with our European partners.

One more point

The French firm was apparently £50m cheaper than the British.Do we pay the extra just to keep it in house?

Should we always go for the cheapest option? Maybe quality is being sacrificed?

Should a matter of national security be dealt with by the private sector?

Edited by Oliver (22 Mar 2018 2.39pm)

Edited by Oliver (22 Mar 2018 2.40pm)

I have prepared one of my own time capsules. I have placed some rather large samples of dynamite, gunpowder and nitroglycerin. My time capsule is set to go off in the year 3000. It will show them what we are really like.

I forgot to mention that the company that lost out is crying foul "British contracts, British jobs". Yet they proudly state they print passports for countries around the world. So its OK to outsource to the UK but not OK for the UK to do likewise.

I have been listening all day to this story and I still have not yet heard a valid argument from the company beyond whinging.

If we stop open tendering we are inviting companies to raise their prices.

Security has now been raised as an issue and yet this was known when the tendering process started so what has changed.

One more point

Interesting point as a Brexiter I have no problem with our EU partners winning the business. Of course now that we are leaving the government of the day could always re-nationalise the passport office something they can't do under current EU regulations.

One more point

Why are you assuming that because something costs less that it's quality is always lower. That's a very British trait. A good example is when ALDI first came to the UK. They had trouble with their stores selling many products because the British saw cheap as low quality and always felt 'brand' names were better quality. ALDI then made a 'premium' range of products in 'premium' packaging and suddenly sales shot up. It took years for ALDI to reach their current dominant position in the UK retail industry and now their non-brand products are selling very well. Same goes for LIDL the other German owned retailer, both have excellent quality products at excellent prices that have been established for decades on the continent.

Paying less is often a sign that someone has a longer term vision and isn't trying to make quick profits through 'clever' marketing.