The sensitivity to other cultures in Great Britain reached new heights recently with the passport photo of a five-year-old girl being rejected for showing her bare shoulders.

The girls mother Jane Edwards was told by a clerk that the exposed skin might be offensive in a Muslim country. 

As the mother told the Telegraph, “This is quite ridiculous, I followed the instructions on the passport form to the letter and it was still rejected. It is just officialdom pandering to political correctness.”

Yes we are reminded once again that political correctness isn’t limited to the United States.

Edwards then had to spend hours filling out a new application, obtaining signatures and of course taking new photos.  The Post Office where Edwards went has a photo booth and there are no warnings that bare skin isn’t appropriate.

The Telegraph reported that a spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service said it was not its policy to reject applications with bare shoulders.

“The guidance set out on the application form doesn’t include it, this picture should have been absolutely fine,” she said. “If people follow those rules there should be no problem.

A Post Office spokesman was quoted by the Telegraph as saying: “Our offices have a Passport Office template which says what the photograph should and shouldn’t be.

“Bare shoulders don’t come into that at all. We can’t see any instruction to that effect so all we can do is apologise to Mrs. Edwards. It was clearly a mistake made by the clerk at the post office.

Hopefully little Hannah Edwards will be able to put this episode behind her and just enjoy her vacation and childhood.  In reality she faces a lifetime of political correctness that will be far worse than this kerfuffle.

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