Prime Minister 'entirely out of touch' over passport delays
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is "entirely out of touch with big issues" impacting people over current passport delays, a Black Country MP has said.
Mr Johnson told Parliament as far as he is concerned passports are issued within four to six weeks of an application – despite claims of a large backlog.
Reports suggest there are currently around 500,000 applications waiting to be approved by the Home Office which will get worse as summer arrives.
Now John Spellar, MP for Warley, has taken aim at the Conservative leader and criticised him for not knowing what is happening in the department.
Mr Spellar said: "The PM clearly hasn’t a clue what is actually going on in his Home Office because that is certainly not the experience of many of my constituents.
"I have numerous cases from desperate constituents who have been waiting for months for their passports. As a result, some families cannot travel to see loved ones and sick relatives, and many families are missing well-earned holidays.
"We have a Prime Minister who doesn’t know what is going on in the Home Office or anywhere else in Government and is entirely out of touch with big issues impacting the public."
It comes after a family in Stourbridge called for compensation and an apology after missing a holiday because of passport issues, with the residents having aimed to fly out to Turkey.
But for Sharon Stevens, her daughter and grandchildren, it wasn't to be after waiting more than two months for passport applications to be completed.
Ms Stevens said she had sent off the requests over the Government passport website, but despite being told she would get the passports back in five weeks, she was still waiting 10 weeks later and had not received a clear reason why.
Mr Johnson, speaking at Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) on May 25, responded to calls from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to assure people they won't miss out on their holidays.
The Prime Minister said the Government has been “massively increasing” the speed at which the Passport Office delivers, adding: “To the best of my knowledge everybody is getting their passport within four to six weeks.”
