Idiot Government

[merlin100]

Just thought I would highlight the ineffectiveness and stupidity of our NuLabour lot.
Me and the missus are off to Spain in May, taking my son and his friend.
Now it turns out that his friend had his name changed by deed poll several years ago ( he is now 15 years old).
And its been bloody nightmare................ ...
No-one (including the original solicitor) has any record of the name change.
The Mother refuses to allow him to obtain her birth certificate ( now needed by passport applicants - new rule) - so we applied for, and got one ( there you go Mr Government Man, £7, ta very much).
After anonymously phoning the passport office, we were told we needed to obtain almost impossible information no doubt heavily protected by the Data Protection Act - any records of court orders, custody orders, residency orders etc regarding my sons friend ( no names mentioned here - sure you understand).
Now all this HAS to be sent if a copy of the Deed Poll is included.
Hands up all those that already know this criteria is impossible?
Me too.
So I did the extremely British thing - I said sod it and send the application off in his original name with no mention of the Deed Poll. The missus went into rantings of imprisonment, massive fines etc. Again, being an Englishman, I repied with the time honoured response of "Shut the *&^% up darling".
And guess what I got in the post this morning?
An up to date, fully paid Passport for my sons mate!!
Easy eh?
God I feel so safe in this sodding country

[buzby]

Thanks for the rant, but whose fault is all this? Not the government! It's quite unusual for a minor to undergo a requirement for a Deed Poll, but as you found out, an existing Birth Certificate for the child (NOT the mother's). Not only that, you don;t need permission from anyone to get a certificate in the name of anyone else - these are public records, and you pay your money and get the documents.

Of course, now all he needs to do is turn up the Deed Poll documentation and he can have the passport re-issued in the name he actually uses. It is also important to remember that there is no confusion of names when buying plane tickets, they'll have to match the passport or travel will be denied.