Nobody calls the fee for getting a passport "a tax on leaving the country", yet you can't leave the country without one.
Not strictly true. The passport is a piece of paper issued by the government on behalf of the crown to ask permission of another country to let you enter. A passport does not guarantee you free passage anywhere (and remember, the right to leave the country can be recinded at any time, re football hooligans).
In principle any piece of paper, signed by the relevant crown officials may be used (John Simposon has a good story on this in one of his books). So it is possible to enter and leave the country without a passport.
I had to send mine off for a visa application when a business trip to London came up (I'm an expat). I turned up at the airport without a passport and persuaded the airline to call UK Immigration. After a 15 minute phone call, when I had to justify the fact I had no available passport, I was given entry to the UK. I wouldn't recommend trying this on a regular basis, but it shows that the passport is not the only means of making international travel.
RB
Slashdot Mirror
Not strictly true. The passport is a piece of paper issued by the government on behalf of the crown to ask permission of another country to let you enter. A passport does not guarantee you free passage anywhere (and remember, the right to leave the country can be recinded at any time, re football hooligans).
In principle any piece of paper, signed by the relevant crown officials may be used (John Simposon has a good story on this in one of his books). So it is possible to enter and leave the country without a passport.
I had to send mine off for a visa application when a business trip to London came up (I'm an expat). I turned up at the airport without a passport and persuaded the airline to call UK Immigration. After a 15 minute phone call, when I had to justify the fact I had no available passport, I was given entry to the UK. I wouldn't recommend trying this on a regular basis, but it shows that the passport is not the only means of making international travel.
RB