Monday, August 14, 2006
A QUESTIONABLE PHOTO?
Michelle Malkin:
Michelle's referring to this, in The Telegraph:
I know that it seems like pandering, but on another level consider this.
The counter clerk probably didn't think of things in these sorts of Olympian terms of course, but the Passport Service is part of the UK Home Office. If that passport had been approved with that photo, but upon arrival in a Muslim country the family had then been subjected to less than stellar treatment, the Passport Service would THEN have been accused (probably not just by the Telegraph, but by the family as well) of providing sloppy guidelines and NOT forewarning the family of a potentially "questionable" photo in their daughter's passport. Considering the Home Office has already seen MORE than its share of recent internal troubles, such an episode would be rolled out in the media as yet another example of agency ineptitude.
More likely, what appears to be the case here is a local post office counter clerk passing to Mrs Edwards a behind the scenes rumor she'd picked up from somewhere . . . and the clerk was trying, in her own way, unofficially but officially, to be helpful. Yes, "bare shoulders" in the passport are not a problem for British passport officials; and yes, the family is only going to France, where "bare shoulders" are (presumably still) not considered a problem for French passport officials. But passports cover ALL destinations, and British citizens are far more likely than Americans to travel to "holiday destinations" in the sun such as Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.
If she were my daughter, I'd probably feel more this way: Better to be made to realize how the photo might be viewed and be waved off at a local UK post office by a clerk who thinks she is doing her job, than either finding the application rejected (just as she said she had heard had happened to other people who had submitted similar photos), or, far worse, having the Passport Agency place it in her UK passport according to their guidelines, but then finding ourselves confronted by a bunch of "unofficially" nasty passport officers upon arrival in a Muslim country. ¶ by Robert, Monday, August 14, 2006
Michelle Malkin:
...Her passport application was rejected by bureaucrats who told the girl's mom "that the exposed skin might be considered offensive in a Muslim country."...
Michelle's referring to this, in The Telegraph:
...The photograph was taken at a photo-booth at a local post office for a family trip to the south of France.
Because of the way the camera was set up, the picture came out showing Hannah's shoulders.
The family had it signed and presented it at a post office with the completed form but were told that it would not be accepted by the Passport Office.
A woman behind the counter informed them that she was aware of at least two other cases where applications had been rejected because a person's shoulders were not covered.
Mrs Edwards, a Sheffield GP, said: "I was incensed. I went back home and checked the form. Nowhere did it say anything about covering up shoulders. If it had, I would have done so, but it all seems so unnecessary.
"This is quite ridiculous, I followed the instructions on the passport form to the letter and it was still rejected. It is just officialdom pandering to political correctness...
Because of the way the camera was set up, the picture came out showing Hannah's shoulders.
The family had it signed and presented it at a post office with the completed form but were told that it would not be accepted by the Passport Office.
A woman behind the counter informed them that she was aware of at least two other cases where applications had been rejected because a person's shoulders were not covered.
Mrs Edwards, a Sheffield GP, said: "I was incensed. I went back home and checked the form. Nowhere did it say anything about covering up shoulders. If it had, I would have done so, but it all seems so unnecessary.
"This is quite ridiculous, I followed the instructions on the passport form to the letter and it was still rejected. It is just officialdom pandering to political correctness...
I know that it seems like pandering, but on another level consider this.
The counter clerk probably didn't think of things in these sorts of Olympian terms of course, but the Passport Service is part of the UK Home Office. If that passport had been approved with that photo, but upon arrival in a Muslim country the family had then been subjected to less than stellar treatment, the Passport Service would THEN have been accused (probably not just by the Telegraph, but by the family as well) of providing sloppy guidelines and NOT forewarning the family of a potentially "questionable" photo in their daughter's passport. Considering the Home Office has already seen MORE than its share of recent internal troubles, such an episode would be rolled out in the media as yet another example of agency ineptitude.
More likely, what appears to be the case here is a local post office counter clerk passing to Mrs Edwards a behind the scenes rumor she'd picked up from somewhere . . . and the clerk was trying, in her own way, unofficially but officially, to be helpful. Yes, "bare shoulders" in the passport are not a problem for British passport officials; and yes, the family is only going to France, where "bare shoulders" are (presumably still) not considered a problem for French passport officials. But passports cover ALL destinations, and British citizens are far more likely than Americans to travel to "holiday destinations" in the sun such as Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.
If she were my daughter, I'd probably feel more this way: Better to be made to realize how the photo might be viewed and be waved off at a local UK post office by a clerk who thinks she is doing her job, than either finding the application rejected (just as she said she had heard had happened to other people who had submitted similar photos), or, far worse, having the Passport Agency place it in her UK passport according to their guidelines, but then finding ourselves confronted by a bunch of "unofficially" nasty passport officers upon arrival in a Muslim country. ¶ by Robert, Monday, August 14, 2006
