I'm an ex-Marine who's lived here for 50 years, so why must I pay £750 to prove I'm British?

Years of service: Keri Hardie, 55, shows the medal he won in Northern Ireland

A former Royal Marine who served three terms in Northern Ireland has been told he must pay £750 and undergo a ‘citizenship test’ if he wants a British passport.

Both of Keir Hardie’s parents were British and he has lived in this country since the age of three.



He has been decorated for his service in the Marines and has also worked as a policeman and for the fire brigade, served as a town councillor and is now an NHS mental health nurse.



His two ex-wives and his current partner, Lindsey, are all British, as is his 17-year-old daughter, Amy.

But when he returned from holiday in Turkey last month, 55-year-old Mr Hardie, who was named after the founder of the Labour Party, was threatened with deportation – because he was born in Canada and has never been issued with British papers.



Now, the UK Identity and Passport Service is insisting he goes through the process of applying for indefinite leave to remain in this country at a cost of £750, which includes having to take the Life in the UK test, devised for new immigrants.



But he is refusing to pay the fee on principle and is looking for lawyers to fight his case.

Mr Hardie, whose three brothers and sister were all born in Britain and have British passports, said: ‘I have earned my passport through service with the Royal Marines, the NHS, the fire brigade and the police.



‘I have worked solidly since 1967 and paid my taxes. I’ve never been on the dole. I’m a Brit and I should be allowed a passport just like any other Brit.’

His grandfather, John Hunter Hardie, served in the Cameron Highlanders in India and his father, John Chisholm Hardie, was a highly decorated chief petty officer in the Royal Navy.



But, as his father was born in India, the passport authorities are insisting he also tracks down his grandfather’s birth and wedding certificates – both of which have been lost since their issue around a century ago.

Mr Hardie, from Forres, near Inverness, said: ‘When I was in the Marines in 1973, aged 21, they applied for a passport for me but couldn’t get one.



That didn’t stop me from being sent off to wherever in the world they wanted, though. I didn’t take it seriously back then and evidently neither did they.

‘I eventually got a Canadian passport just because it was easier, as I was born there and I wanted to have holidays abroad. Now, I still want to go on holidays abroad but I can’t.



‘Why shouldn’t I be allowed to nip over to Paris or get some good weather in Spain once in a while, like any other normal British person?’

Immigration officials have insisted that his current documents will not entitle him to re-enter the country should he go abroad again and have even threatened to deport him to Turkey.



They have also pointed out that despite his job with the NHS, he may not legally be allowed to work in Britain.

He said: ‘The problem is that immigration is now full of scared little jobsworths who aren’t allowed to use common sense and discretion.



‘They’ve even admitted at the passport office how ridiculous it is to be asking for my grandparents’ records. But they still demand them.



‘If they don’t give me a passport, I’ll not stop plugging. If need be, I’ll have to pay thousands to immigration solicitors but I’m not going to pay a penny more than the £72 any British person has to pay to get a new passport. This just shouldn’t be happening.’

A spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service said: ‘We do not comment on individual cases. However, a passport will not be issued until an applicant’s identity and nationality has been satisfactorily confirmed. This is clearly stated in all our guidance.’

