Rowen forces Irish passport U-turn!
Rochdale MP Paul Rowen is celebrating after forcing the Government into a U-turn over forcing passport checks when travelling to and from Ireland. Paul Rowen, a Lib Dem Shadow Work and Pension's Minister, whose family hail from Limerick said, "This poorly thought Government initiative would have had such a detrimental affect on travel and tourism to and from Ireland. I know many elderly people without a passport who have visited their homesteads because of the 'Common Travel Area' rule that allowed them to just bring photo ID. This scheme was simply an illogical Government response to a problem that does not really exist. It would have cost the taxpayer at least £2.5 million a year for staff and close to a £50 million in tourism.
