Ferry giant refuses ID card
John Leyden writes in The Register:
An early adopter of the UK’s controversial ID card was refused passage when he tried to board a ferry to Rotterdam.
Norman Eastwood, from Salford, and his wife Jeanette had booked a passage from Hull with P&O Ferries on Saturday. The ID card, which has been offered on a voluntary basis to the public in Greater Manchester as part of a limited trial since last month, is meant to allow travel across Europe as an alternative to a passport.
However P&O staff at check-in had never seen the card before and didn’t know it was a valid travel document. The unfortunate Eastwood was told he would need his passport – which he had left at home – to travel.
“We had no idea the ID card was being trialled,” a P&O spokesman explained. “Mr Eastwood turned up with a form of ID we didn’t recognise.”
“He was told that he wasn’t going anywhere without a passport.”
Apparently:
A spokesman for the ferry firm told us that UK borders agency staff at the port (Hull) didn’t know about the ID card either, a suggestion strongly denied by a Home Office spokeswoman.
According to the BBC:
The Home Office has said they will refund him the travel costs and the price of the ferry tickets.
