Government In A Hole Over Passport Delays But Still Continues To Dig !

[mikey4444]

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jun/19/passport-office-backlog-holiday-britain-staycation-uk

Despite the Government finally owning up and apologising for the Passport fiasco, this Minister continues to dig the hole a little deeper. Please note that Ms Grant is actually abroad herself at present, watching England lose in Brazil. Perhaps a little humility might be called for.

[Prudie]

Mikey I know you have a bit of a bee currently about this passport fiasco but Ms Grant is the tourism minister and as far as I'm aware that means British tourism - those in that role have always been expected to promote stay in UK holidays.

[mikey4444]

But do you think it was a wise remark to make when her Government has made such a balls up of issuing passports ? I am a fan of holidaying in Britain too, and haven't been abroad for 6 years....Cornwall is fantastic. But was the remark terribly tactful of her considering, 1..the Passport fiasco, and 2..the fact that she was abroad at the time ?

[Prudie]

Well the timing was unfortunate because it's given an opportunity for her to be jumped on but if she'd said it at any other time no-one would bat an eyelid.

[mikey4444]

And that was my point Prudie ! Very bad timing indeed. But I am with her all the way when it comes to holidays in Britain, although I wish people wouldn't use that clumsy, made-up word "stayvacation"...why do we all have to speak American English these days !

[ToraToraTora]

aren't we having a lovely time over this mikey, enjoy! Oh nice anti British swipe at the end, respect!

[mikey4444]

This mess over passports is entirely of the Governments making, a Government that I didn't vote for, so shooting the messenger again isn't helpful.

By the way, England played like wassocks last night and didn't deserve to win.

[zebo]

This mess over passports is not entirely the Government's fault, what about the idiots who wait until the last minute to renew a passport? If it's beyond your capabilities to renew your passport 6 months before the renewal date then I'm not sure you're fit to be let out of the country without a minder.
It's happened before, under different Governments, and it will no doubt happen again.

[Prudie]

Agree zebo and the over emotive comment from the lady who missed her cruise is also laughable - she worked and saved all her life for one big holiday a year and it's ruined. And where is she going? A cruise round the British Isles. Firstly I'm sure there would be alternative ID accepted for a domestic trip like this and furthermore why didn't she sort it earlier. I would never book a holiday without making sure there was plenty of time to ensure my passport was valid.

[ToraToraTora]

good point zebo/prudie the governement gets the blame for people being disorganised. if I'd booked a cruise I'd make pretty dam sure my passport was in date. I applied for my last passport when the old one had 6 months to run, it turned up in 3 weeks. I do think people should also take some responsibility for getting themselves organised.

[mikey4444]

I agree TTT, but the huge passport backlog has very little to do with some people applying for passports too late. Its because of spending cuts.

Anyway, the official advice from the Passport Office is that most passports will be dealt with in a few days :::

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about

So, despite all the publicity and apologies in the House of Commons, their official website is still saying that it aims to get 99.5% of passports with 10 days !

Case of one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing it would appear.

[mikey4444]

Latest news from the BBC ::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27937962

So either there is a backlog or there isn't ? Seems that there is !

[jno]

they're making £13 on each passport they issue

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/20/passport-office-chaos-applications-profit-surplus

Having first required everyone to have one before they'e allowed to travel

[mikey4444]

I can remember that passport charges went up by a huge amount a few years ago, mainly to pay for the black hole that a new computerisation mess left in its wake. I recall that there were thousands of people queued up around the streets of every passport office in the country. I had some work in the city centre of Newport that year and people were standing out in the rain for hours.