As a proud euro-citizen I am only too pleased to hold a common EU passport. Fine, if any little Englanders want their own design, they can buy a cover -but leave me with my EU passport! It make travelling through the Union & beyond so much easier.
I suppose that there are people who think that printing "British Citizen" in the "Nationality" declaration on British passports is fine.
The petition is not for them, though I hope it may make them think about the reality of the passports. For instance, what is the meaning of citizen and what is the meaning of national. They are two different words with different meanings, globally. Maybe they would return to the petition after having thought or being aware differently.
However, printing "British Citizen" in the "Nationality" section of a British passport, just for one example of the confusion caused, means the following situation is our reality:
There are many foreign persons to our shores who are foreign nationals (eg. a French or Irish national) and who are also British citizens. For example, a French person who was born and grew up in France with a French father but British mother is a full French National and Citizen, and also can be a British Citizen. Being a citizen of a country means that you have some rights of that country but that need not be your mother country.
Our British passports only certify that the holder is a British Citizen. There is nothing on British passports to suggest the holder is not a French national or a national of somewhere else who merely holds Citizens' rights of the U.K. So any British person, by virtue of their passports, may easily be regarded as a foreigner. There is no address section on the passports, and there is nothing to prove that the holder resides in the U.K. either.
For DanDare and others who may think this petition is something else: This is a petition to have "British" put in the "Nationality" section of British passports, and not "British Citizen".
A British passport should be a European Union passport while the U.K. is a member of the European Community. This petition is not to have English, Sottish, Welsh or Northern Irish recognised as a nationality or declared on any passports.
