1 week Ago By [email protected] (Chris McCall)
The cost of applying for a new UK passport has been branded a "rip off" as travellers face another price hike this week. The SNP said a family in Ireland would now pay half the price of what a family in Scotland faces for a new set of travel documents. From April 10, the fee for a standard online application made from within the UK will rise from £88.
50 to £94.50 for adults and £57.50 to £61.
50 for children. Research by the SNP found the UK passport is now one of the most expensive in Europe - with only Switzerland costing significantly more at £123. Application costs have soared by 25 per cent in just two years, with travellers given just three weeks’ notice of the most recent change.
The rise also means the fee for a UK passport – now rapidly approaching £100 – is nearly seven times the cost of a UK driving licence renewal, despite both applications taking place online. An adult’s passport in Ireland is around £30 cheaper and a child passport is just £17. In Belgium the cost of an adult passport is £54, the same in Portugal and in Spain an adult passport only costs £26.
SNP MP Stephen Gethins blamed Brexit for the steady increase in the cost of travelling from the UK compared to neighbouring European countries. He said: "With many families preparing for their Easter and summer holidays, they'll now face the rip off cost of travel imposed by Brexit Britain with passport prices soaring to among the highest in Europe. "We know Brexit is costing the UK economy and public finances billions of pounds every year, and it is also raising the cost of living for families.
"The cosy conspiracy of silence on Brexit may work for the Labour Party and the Tories, but it's families in Scotland that are feeling the pinch and are now we paying over the odds for passports thanks to the Home Office fleecing the public. "The fact is a family in Ireland pays half the price a family in Scotland does to get a set of passports thanks to rip off prices - it's time Westminster got its head out of the sand and faced up to the reality that working more closely with our European allies will boost our economy and put pounds in the pockets of Scottish families. "The Labour Government made a political choice to rob pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payment, they chose to put jobs at risk through National Insurance rises and they are choosing to ignore the damage of Brexit - perhaps it's time Scottish people had the choice as to whether we can afford Westminster any longer.
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