Government ripping us off on passports

TRYING to look forward to when, and if, we are able to travel again, my concern is about the new European requirement that our UK passports will have to be valid for at least six months after the end of our journey abroad. Assuming this is an EU requirement, then it appears to follow on from Brexit when we formally left the EU at midnight on December 31.

However, what is not acceptable is that we are given no credit for the unexpired time on that passport. The new passport is simply dated for the day of issue to expire in 10 years’ time. This can be quite significant because if we renew a passport six months before its expiry, then we lose that six months’ validity, and we end up paying twice for that period.

The solution is quite simple. All that has to be done is to extend the new passport by the unexpired time. This was the old rule for issuing passports until 2018, when we were suddenly told that in preparation for Brexit no account would be taken of unexpired time on the passport being surrendered. This decision about the length of validity and expiry of a UK passport is a matter for the UK government alone.

Considering that passports can cost £75.50 or £85 for each person and that even for a family each family member, including children and babies, must have their own passport, this amounts to yet another considerable expense and inconvenience.

The current arrangements are not just indefensible, they are outrageous.

Perhaps what we need is a petition to Parliament.

John Flynn Burton Joyce