It is clear that when De La Rue lose the contract to print our nations passports, that jobs may be lost, at least in the short term. I am sorry to read about this as one of my friends works for the company, albeit in a different part of the business. No one would want to see the UK lose jobs, particularly as we are facing Brexit with the impact that will have on our employment situation. However assuming that the process was handled well and the company gets feedback to assist it in future such tender bids, they will need to take this on the chin, they have no doubt won contracts in the past in competition from other British companies. If on the other hand the decision was a bad one, there is time for the Home Office to be challenged and for them to reverse their decision. EU procurement rules demand a great deal out of the public sector when setting up tender arrangements, but that is not a bad thing and it will be the case if we leave the EU, when we create our own set of processes. The businesses who tender for such opportunities also have to jump through many huge hoops. However it is possible even for small businesses to do so as I know from personal experience. What seemed to emerge yesterday when the row became public was that the new contract will save our nation a great deal of money. If this is the only benefit, providing that the Government sets about reinvesting that sum in a way that helps the people who are potentially going to be seeking new roles, then in some senses the circle will be squared. There are of course reasons why local suppliers should be seen as counting for more when it comes to such decisions. The shipping of the passports will add to the environmental cost of the new passports but this is probably only a marginal impact. However there are certainly times when the social impact of the contract can be taken into account by those making the decision. What is essential is that companies can learn from any mistakes they may have made, and in order for this to happen an open response from the government is vital. What is not helpful is to hear from the Brexiteers, whose own policies are having a damaging impact on many businesses, wanting to skew the procurement rules just because the items to be printed are our passports. The fact is that for many of us, losing reference to the EU on our passports is disappointing. However we have to accept such matters if we do leave. If we are to enter into lots of new trade agreements in the future, this will inevitably mean gaining in some areas and losing in others. That is how trade arrangements work. Only idiots such as Donald Trump think that they can make their nation great at the expense of the rest of the world. I don’t care who prints my passport as long as it is reliable and safe. I don’t care what colour it is, although I would quite like a rainbow coloured one, in part because of the way that a rainbow is seen as a marker for equality and in part because it is a marker for a promise by God that he first made to Noah after the flood. I do care about the time spent queuing for passport control, although I don’t go abroad all that often. I do care that we ensure that new jobs can be created if any get lost over this. Otherwise lets move on!