Boris Johnson brandishes Britain’s new passport for the first time but in a blow for Brexit supporters, the document is made in Poland

Britain’s new post-Brexit blue passports will be given to applicants from next month, the Home Office announced yesterday.

What it did not say, however, was that they will be made by a Franco/Dutch company at a factory in Poland, under EU procurement rules.

In one of the ironies of Brexit, the 11-year, £260 million contract was won by a subsidiary of the French multinational group Thales last year, after its British competitor De La Rue lost out.

Priti Patel said she “cannot wait” to travel on the new British passport HOME OFFICE/PA

As a result all the new passports will be made at the company’s factory in the Polish town of Tczew and then imported into the UK. At the time the contract was signed, the government said it would create 70 new jobs in Britain.

Ministers hailed the introduction