Sunday 22nd February, Day 1 of hunger strike

Hi, my name is Chris Shaw. I'm 24 and live in Cornwall. I’m a graduate from Plymouth University and currently work for one of the Biggest Telecommunications companies in the UK. I was born in Britain and have lived here all my life, and consider myself to be a normal, everyday person. My Father is also British... but due to rushed government legislation he is days away from losing his job because he needs to prove that he is in fact "British". After months of chasing it up with the Foreign Office, his local MP and the Kenya High Commission and many other ignorant departments within the government, it seems certain he is going to be made redundant... this has spurned me on to take this drastic action: I will be going on hunger strike until this is resolved. I will continue to drink fluids, but will not eat an ounce of food. Let me explain why...

My father, Graham Shaw (he was born Nicholas Graham Shaw), was born in Kenya in 1952 to British parents. His parents divorced when he was about 12 months old and eventually his father, Edward Albert Shaw, obtained custody. Edward Shaw remarried in 1956 and in 1961 they all were forced to return to the UK due to the Mau-Mau uprising. Edward Shaw was a police officer in the Kenyan Police Force, and so remaining in Kenya was not an option due to the instability of the region. My father was enrolled in a local school and completed his education in Cornwall, until joining the army in 1970. Due to an injury he was forced to leave after 6 months, but then joined the civil service (DWP) where he worked for 35 years before taking early redundancy due to staff cutbacks in 2006. In 2007 he was offered a part time job at B&Q. As proof of identity he showed his P45 and also his MOD90 ID card (he is an Officer in the army cadets). After an HR audit he was informed that he needed to produce a British passport or full driving license due to a change in regulations by our "wonderful" Labour government. He does not drive and had previously found it difficult to apply for a passport, but on those occasions he was simply confined to the fact that he just wouldn't be able to go on holiday with his partner, Linda.

Since being notified of this requirement he has contacted the Home Office, and many other government departments and has been ignored. He's had his emails/letters ignored, been fobbed off by countless individuals and on one instance given a number to call which didn't work, only to be told there was a missing digit. When he called the corrected number he was swiftly told that the department didn't exist. He was even told that the only way he could sort this out was to go to Kenya and get the documents himself and send them to the Home Office... which would mean he could, potentially, be stranded in Africa for months... and judging by the level of support by the government, maybe indefinitely. Also he was told he could get a passport by applying for British Citizenship, which is a total slap in the face when you take in mind his job as a civil servant and being enrolled in the army, let alone the fact my Grandfather served this country during WW2.

Things have become more serious now. Despite being more "British" than myself (he served for the MOD and the Government) he is days away from losing his job (Saturday 28th February), which does not bode well as we face an economic crisis that has caused the world's economy to be brought to a standstill. This will leave Linda, his partner, to be the sole provider and have to pay the mortgage. He could sign on, but how will he ever be able to get a job unless this gets sorted? B&Q have been supportive throughout this, but once again I am reminded that our Government really does not care about the people of this country. Could he be deported as he is classed as an immigrant? Should a 56 year old be forced to live in Kenya despite serving his country and government?

He has contacted several papers (the Daily Mail being one) but to no avail. From this day onwards I am on hunger strike in order to get this noticed. Will Gordon Brown allow my father to lose his job and for me to starve? Who knows? I will be putting up daily blogs documenting the help, or ignorance, of all the national papers, government departments (even Number 10) whom I will be contacting with my story and my father’s.

Please to help awareness spread the message : )