MPs raise cases of honeymooners and other Britons caught out by new passport requirements as minister rejects calls for a grace period
The Home Office has dismissed as “absurd” claims that it failed to properly communicate new border rules that left some British dual nationals at risk of being prevented from boarding flights to the UK.
During a heated session in parliament on Wednesday, the Home Office minister Mike Tapp suggested that media coverage in the Guardian and BBC reflected the department’s efforts to publicise the changes.
The Labour backbencher Kerry McCarthy described how two of her constituents feared being stranded on their honeymoon because of the new requirements, which came into force on Wednesday.
Under the changes, British dual nationals must present a valid or expired British passport, or a £589 certificate of entitlement, to prove their right of abode before boarding a plane, ferry or train to the UK.
