Passport delay victims told to take a ‘staycation’
Tourism minister Helen Grant has told Brits affected by passport delays that there’s a lot to be said for the ‘staycation’.
In an interview with House magazine, the Maidstone MP said she was confident people will get their passports in time, but if they don’t want to go away "we have some fantastic places to visit and holiday not that far from here".
She then promoted the various sporting events taking place in the UK this year, including the Tour de France Grand Depart, the golf, the Commonwealth Games, and the "football that we can watch on the TV".
Grant, who is reportedly planning a holiday in Spain later this year and who is currently in Brazil for the World Cup in her capacity as sports minister, made the comments as the number of passport applications waiting to be processed reached nearly 500,000.
Her words have angered consumer groups and the Public and Commercial Services union, which claims the passport crisis was due to job cuts.
"It is incredibly unhelpful while people are desperately trying to get hold of their passports for ministers to be making this sort of glib remark," said Richard Simcox, spokesman for the union.
"They should be focusing their efforts on sorting out the problem in the Passport Office. It is all very well for her to go off to Spain while suggesting people who can’t get hold of a passport should stay at home."
But Grant’s Tory colleagues came to her defence, saying that as tourism minister, she is right to champion the domestic tourism market, but claimed she was in no way linking this with the passport backlog.
Earlier this week, the Home Secretary Theresa May apologised for the delays and offered free ‘fast-track’ for imminent holidays.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt