Passport to misery

ANYONE who has waited three months or more for their passport to be renewed might be forgiven for thinking Passport Office staff were already on strike.

Amazingly, that was the sub- standard service when they were working normally. So Lord knows how long those delays will be now they are planning a five-week walkout.

The decision to punish the long-suffering public with this spiteful action is particularly tin- eared, at a time when almost every other union is seeing sense and calling off their strikes.

The Public and Commercial Services union plans to create as much disruption as possible, calling their strike for the peak April period, during which an estimated 250,000 applications come in every week.

The strike will cause widespread stress as people wait anxiously to see whether passports arrive in time for their summer vacation and could well lead to family holidays being ruined altogether. So much for public service.