How Brexit is boosting Britain's Puffin population
Let's face it, the news agenda isn't exactly cheerful. More than a few high-profile reporters are going on record in recent weeks to say yes, they too are turning off.
It can just get a little bleak can't it?
But worry not. The ultimate antidote is in store and coming up right now for you on Channel 4 News.
Puffins.
As a couple of commissioning editors said to me as we pitched the story – 'What's not to like?' And 'who doesn't love a puffin?'
But it gets a whole lot better. We haven't simply visited and filmed these remarkable, slightly comic 'sea parrots'. We also bear glad tidings of great joy for puffins – and you!
Just last week the
birds received one great big fat boost
, thanks – of all things – to Brexit.
More on that in a second. But first to the Farne Islands off Seahouses, on the wide open emptiness of the Northumbria coast.
Courtesy – who else – of the redoubtable Billy Shiel who has been ferrying tourists and
wildlife
rangers back and forth to these low jagged rocky outcrops for who knows how long?
Billy has been at it for 40 years or so, but his family overall for more than a century, happily outstripping the National Trust's 100 years of stewarding these 28 precious rocky outcrops.
Like the puffins, among the 200,000 seabirds gathering each summer to breed here, Billy is part of the scenery.
So the National Trust has invited the national media to visit, during this breeding season, where the critical puffin count is underway. All part of the celebrations of a century of caring and protecting these islands for the seabirds breeding here.
It 's been tough in recent years. All seabird populations had to come through bird-flu, hard on the heels of the human Covid pandemic which shut the islands and made monitoring numbers extremely difficult. The images of white protective-suited wardens collecting bird carcasses on the Farnes during the avian flu outbreak stay in the mind.
However the news is currently good on numbers – or at least the news was good at the count last year, which was the first in five years because of Covid and bird-flu. It showed numbers were up 15% and stable at around 50,000 on the last 2019 census.
But counting these birds is not without challenges.
They excavate pretty serious nesting burrows atop the jagged cliffs, where their one chick, known as a puffling, should be safe from foxes, rats or predating gulls. Parents pair for life and simply throw everything they've got into raising the season's one precious puffling.
Which of course renders populations vulnerable to unwanted changing conditions.
And they're also vulnerable to something else. Small, silvery and assembling into shoals of hundreds of thousands: the sand eel.
Puffins – like many other of our seabirds – are almost wholly dependent upon these small fish. Remember those alluring photos of puffins with several tiny eels in their brightly coloured bills? Yup – those are sand eels.
This struggle brings us to the Great Puffin Brexit Bonanza. Obviously.
This government, along with the previous Conservatives who started it, have managed to fend off EU attempts to plunder sand eel shoals for – of all things – turning them into pig food. In particular the Danes who have the largest such fleet.
Brexit gave UK governments the chance to protect these vital seabird food stocks from foreign plunder. The Tories went for it and the current Labour government recently won a landmark victory which upheld the UK fishing ban in our waters against an EU legal challenge.
The RSPB Chief Executive Becky Speight celebrated the landmark judgement, saying:
'We now expect the UK government and the EU to move forward and make this closure permanent. Safeguarding sand eel stocks is a key part of the jigsaw that will help set our puffins, kittiwakes and the wider marine environment on the path to recovery.'
It is also a remarkable example of how Brexit in practice can allow the UK government to go against EU big agribusiness when it comes to protecting the environment.
Many would say that is a power which has been more talked about than actually used, but in this case, with regards to sand eels, things are very different.
So there is a better chance now that in years to come, sand eels stocks will remain healthy, allowing those devoted puffin parents to feed their single puffling offspring for generations to come.
Exclusive: Threat of losing certain bird species altogether – new data shows
Authorities crack down on illegal wildlife trade
Wildlife populations down 73% in 50 years, says WWF
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Name supplied A I am so sorry: eight years after the vote to leave the European Union, thousands of British travellers are certain to lose their summer holidays due to inadvertent breaches of the post- Brexit passport rules: Under 10 years old since issue date on the day you go in At least 3 months before expiry date on the day you plan to leave Please apply immediately, online, for a renewal of the passport. Send off the old passport, special delivery, to the address given at the end of the application. Then cross your fingers. Straightforward online renewals are often completed within a week. Alternatively, the holiday company may be prepared to let you shift the date a week or two later. If this does not work, then all you can do is pass on the holiday to someone else. Assuming it is a package (flights and accommodation bought in a single transaction) you can transfer it for a payment of £50 or so. In your position, I would be sounding out family and friends in case this becomes necessary. Q I have a query about the benefits of an Irish passport. When you live and work in Northern Ireland but have an Irish passport, you can't get a European Health Insurance Card (Ehic). So when travelling within Europe, you need your British passport and UK Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic) to receive the free health treatment. Please correct me if I am wrong. Alison McQ A As I have written previously, in terms of documentation and ease of travel, the people who are in the strongest post-Brexit position are those with the good fortune to have Irish passports. Thanks to being EU citizens they can speed through Schengen area formalities just as the British once did. And by 2 April they will comprise the only group of foreign people who don't need an Electronic Travel Authorisation for the United Kingdom, due to the age-old Common Travel Agreement. It is quite possible to be a UK citizen and an Irish passport holder at the same time. That is why I have said that I can understand why British citizens who have the good fortune to possess an Irish passport might choose to dispense with the UK version: it offers precious little extra benefit. Having said all that, for the issue of healthcare in the European Union, the key consideration is your country of residence. If you live in Northern Ireland you qualify for a Ghic, which offers free or very heavily subsidised treatment at public hospitals across the EU. The fact that you might also have an Irish passport is not relevant. Indeed, while it is always a good idea for a UK traveller to have a Ghic when travelling to Europe, it is not strictly essential to possess one in order to qualify for treatment on the same basis as local people. The hospital can make contact with the section of the UK NHS Business Services Authority that handles overseas medical care, and verify a patient's status. But best to carry the card. Q I am lucky enough to be a dual passport holder, UK and Irish. I believe that an Irish passport holder exiting the UK and entering the European Union will avoid the forthcoming biometric passport control issue. Coming back, however, how does this apply? For example: can I use my EU passport to enter the EU and when returning use my UK passport to enter the UK? And what happens if I book flights just using the EU passport? Paul Connolly A Once the European Union entry-exit system is running, the value of an EU passport for British travellers will increase still further. The wretched fingerprinting and facial biometric rules – to which we asked to become subject – are currently slated for introduction in November. Once the extra red tape becomes a reality, I predict a surge in applications for Irish passports for those fortunate enough to qualify. Those of us with only a UK passport will have to line up for fingerprints to be taken (on first entry to the Schengen Area) and to have facial biometrics checked (on every arrival and departure). In contrast, EU passport holders will be able to breeze through a fast-track channel. The only check border officials can make is that the document is valid, and that it is yours. Anyone like you who can swerve the system should do so. You will enjoy much smoother progress, and also reduce the queues for us single-passport unfortunates. You could happily enter and leave the EU and wider Schengen Area on your Irish passport and return to the UK on your British passport (there are no formal checks outbound). But I am not sure why you would want to do that: you can speed through the UK Border just as fast with an Irish passport as with a British document. In your position I would leave the UK passport behind, and check in for every flight, ferry or train using your Irish one. Simple and effective. Q I am lucky enough to have a big year of travel planned. It currently looks like this: South Korea in April, Antwerp in September and Japan in November. I'd also like to squeeze in a possible trip to either Florence or Berlin. My problem is: my passport was issued on 23 December 2015 and expires on 23 March 2026. I'm worried about the trip to Japan as I will have less than six months left by the time I go. What is your advice? Olivia C A Lots of people – including some in the travel industry – seem to believe there is some kind of globally ordained rule that your passport should be valid for six months longer than you intend to remain in a foreign country. Fortunately, there is no such edict. Each nation – or, in the case of the European Union, a group of states – decides its own policy. Many countries, including South Korea and Japan, allow tourists to use their passports up to the expiry dates. To run through each of your targets, starting with South Korea: you may read that it is obligatory to obtain a K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorisation). It isn't. For the whole of 2025, British visitors are exempt, during what the authorities say is a bid 'to stimulate tourism'. That will save you some bureaucracy and 10,000 won (about £5.50). For Antwerp, Berlin or Florence: you can be anywhere in the European Union (and wider Schengen Area) up to 23 December 2025. That is both your passport's 10th birthday, beyond which is not valid for entering the EU, and three months before it expires – the last day you can be in the zone. For Japan, you will just need a blank page for your visa stamp. So make the most of the remaining life of your passport – and make a note in your calendar to renew it perhaps a year from now. One caveat: if there is any likelihood that you may need to travel for work, or family reasons, to a country with a 'six-month rule', look at renewing after your Antwerp trip in September. Egypt, for example, wants six months until expiry on the day you enter. Q I have two passports, French and British. At present, I always travel between the two countries on my French passport. If I used the British one to leave or enter France, the border officers would want to stamp it and might also ask about my length of stay – which is not relevant as I have dual nationality. But when the ETA [electronic travel authorisation] comes in for European visitors to the UK next month, if I travel on the French one I will need to apply for one. What is the best strategy? Jaine F A Travellers who are blessed with the benefit of a European Union passport as well as a UK travel document can swerve all the post-Brexit rules. Using the EU passport they speed through the (almost always) faster Schengen area queue on arrival at their destination, with no need to have their passport stamped. All that border staff can do is check that the EU document is valid and that it belongs to the holder. They will also be able to avoid the future need for biometric checks and the Etias permit. Conversely, going through UK Border Control with a British document avoids any issues with length of stay and, soon, the ETA, which will be mandatory for all EU visitors (except the Irish) entering the UK from 2 April. So travel with both passports; use the French one for crossing into France, the British one for the UK Border. You might be thinking: but I need to give passport information in advance to the airline. Just choose one passport for flight bookings and stick to it. You will need to produce it when boarding flights, but this is a simple ID check rather than anything affecting your immigration status. By the time you arrive at your destination, the airline has lost interest in you. Please note this advice applies only to an EU scenario. Some countries do not allow people to carry two passports. The people who are in the strongest post-Brexit position are those with the fortune to be Irish. They don't need an ETA for the UK thanks to the age-old Common Travel Agreement, and thanks to being EU citizens they can speed through Schengen Area formalities just as the British once did. Q Can you help me with an urgent passport question but not one about expiry dates? I travel often to the EU for work and have no blank pages left in my passport. Will France let me in next week? Name supplied A Relax, at least for your trip to France. If you plan to travel no further than the European Union and the wider Schengen area (including Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), don't worry about your passport filling up. Some background: after Brexit, the UK asked for citizens to become 'third-country nationals' in the eyes of the EU, and Brussels agreed. The Schengen border code insists: 'The travel documents of third-country nationals shall be systematically stamped on entry and exit.' I fear you will not qualify for the very few exemptions, unless you are a member of a ship's crew; a national of Andorra, Monaco or San Marino; or a dignitary 'whose arrival has been officially announced in advance through diplomatic channels'. Since the rules we asked for took effect, each visit to the Schengen area uses half a passport page: one stamp to enter, another to return. But even if your passport is completely full, frontier officials are required to provide an additional sheet of paper on which the stamps are applied. Problems arise, though, if you wish to travel beyond Europe to a country that demands a blank page on which to stamp you in and out. For example, the Foreign Office warns: 'To enter Thailand, your passport must have at least one blank page.' Many other non-EU countries have the same requirement, and India and South Africa both demand two clear-facing pages. This is yet another consequence of Brexit that you may feel you were not warned about. But the problem is not permanent. From November this year, if all goes according to plan, the European Union's entry-exit system will end manual passport stamping and replace it with electronic registration – except for travellers to Cyprus, which is remaining outside the Schengen area, and Ireland, where British residents do not require a passport and will not be stamped in or out. Q I am flying from London to Edinburgh in early August. I have sent my passport off for renewal and I know it could take 10 weeks, which would mean the end of August. I checked with the airline's customer service line to ask if I can use my photo driving licence. To my consternation, they said 'no, it has to be a passport'. If the new one doesn't arrive on time, can I cancel, get a refund and go by train instead? Name supplied A You have been misled. No airline asks for a passport for flights within the UK, and I can only imagine the customer service person didn't quite grasp that this was a domestic flight. There is no legal requirement for photo ID on internal UK flights but airlines are allowed to ask for proof of identity to reduce ticket fraud (such as Person B using a ticket sold to Person A, breaking the conditions of contract and possibly making a profit into the bargain). Ryanair asks all passengers aged 16-plus to carry 'any photo ID which matches the passenger's name in the booking'. For easyJet it's something official: a driving licence or a passport that has expired in the past five years, for example. British Airways merely 'advises' that you carry photographic identification, adding enigmatically: 'This may be requested at certain points in your journey.' And Loganair needs photographic ID only when you are checking in luggage. This should be 'government issued' but the definition is broad enough to include a bus pass. As I have previously mentioned, the 10-week stipulation by HM Passport Office for a straightforward renewal such as yours is ridiculously pessimistic, and I will be surprised if you do not have the document within two weeks of posting the old one off. Finally, even though the government is enticing more people on board domestic flights by halving air passenger duty three months ago, the train is much more civilised and environmentally friendly. And unless you are travelling on a railcard-reduced ticket, you won't be asked for ID. So go by rail next time, perhaps. Q Later this year, I hope to travel to Australia via Sri Lanka and come back direct. I am lucky enough to have both British and Australian passports. What I'm confused about is which one do I use at each stage of the journey? Charlotte E A People who have two passports are in an excellent position, but you need to be careful about how you manage them. Starting with first principles: two types of organisations are interested in the nationality of your passport. The immigration authorities of the country you are travelling to want to know that you are entitled to enter, and also want you to enter and leave their country on the same passport. (One exception to this: the UK has no checks on departure.) The airline wants to know that you are entitled to travel to the destination of your ticket. It is not interested in how you later leave that destination. From the UK to Sri Lanka: the British government doesn't care about when you leave. The airline wants to know that you have a valid passport and visa; for most people, that will be Sri Lanka's electronic travel authorisation (ETA), price $50 (£38). Organise this with your British passport. At the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, use your British passport to enter and leave. From Sri Lanka to Australia: on departure from Colombo, the airline will want to know that you are entitled to enter Australia. Therefore, present your Australian passport to the airline, which gives you the automatic right to enter with no additional formalities. This will apply even if you are on a connecting flight, eg on Singapore Airlines rather than SriLankan Airlines direct to Melbourne or Sydney. On arrival in Australia, show the passport control people your Australian passport. You should also use this to leave Australia. From Australia to the UK: use your British passport for the flight – otherwise you will be asked, as an Australian, to obtain a UK ETA. On arrival in the UK, just go through the eGates with your British passport. If this all seems too complicated, just apply for the free Australian eVisitor pass, which is fast and easy to obtain, and do the whole thing on your British passport.
