MPs: Huge passports logjam ‘unacceptable’

MPs have blasted the ‘absolutely unacceptable’ passport backlog – as a minister declined to say when it will be cleared.

Immigration minister Tom Pursglove insisted the ‘vast majority’ of passport applications were being processed within ten weeks amid a post-pandemic surge in renewals.

Labour MP Nick Smith, asking an urgent question in the house of Commons, said: ‘We need facts today – how big is the actual backlog? And by when will their too-long ten week timeframe be down to the normal three weeks?’

Mr Pursglove replied: ‘The vast majority of passport applications continue to be processed well within ten weeks.’

Labour MP Barry Gardiner said the delays were ‘absolutely unacceptable’ as he told the Commons about an elderly couple in his constituency who applied for passports before Christmas but still missed a wedding and a funeral, adding: ‘This is not just an issue of people wanting to go on holiday.’