Passport nightmare? Call your MP, but don’t expect miracles
Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It was clear from the early in the Covid crisis that a knock-on “passport crisis” would loom once travel restrictions were lifted – unless careful plans were laid so that HM Passport Office could cope. I know it’s in the tens of thousands because on Thursday, the junior Home Office minister Tom Pursglove revealed that one in 70 passport applications has been in the system for longer than the 10-week target for processing. “Especially Niall Hargreaves, who spent nine hours on the phone to the Passport Office last week and did not manage to get through all day.” With friends like Young, the Home Office minister hardly needed enemies such as Nick Smith, the Labour MP whose urgent question triggered the debate. Every time I phone I get passed to a different department, then hold, then the phone line goes dead.” Another said: “I’ve called 40 times in the past week; they cut me off every time.
Half a million people face ruined summer holidays as passport backlog causes chaos
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