Afzal Khan, Labour MP for Gorton in Greater Manchester, says he ‘may have broken Boris Johnson’ after grilling the PM on passport waiting times.
During yesterday’s PMQs, the Prime Minster was seen grimacing as Mr Khan addressed him over the the long turnaround times for passports.
The politician said that he had also received a late-night ‘angry letter’ from Home Secretary Priti Patel, accusing him of ‘scaremongering’.
Travellers are currently being advised to allow up to 10 weeks for new passports to be processed, owing to a surge in demand for international travel after the pandemic.
Labour MP for Gorton, Afzal Khan, discussing passport wait times at PMQs. Credit: Parliament TV
The Passport Office has insisted that there is ‘no backlog in passport processing’ but that there has been an ‘unprecedented demand’ for British passports now that travel restrictions have been lifted.
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Mr Khan began his address to the House of Commons by saying: “Mr Speaker, I’d have more sympathy for the words ‘Get on with the job’ if it had actually started in the first place,” a statement that was greeted with laughter.
He then said: “Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister told the House: ‘To the best of my knowledge, everybody is getting their passport within four to six weeks.’
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“However, the passport office is currently quoting a 10 week service time, with many of my constituents waiting well over that period.
“Cancelled summer trips could cost families over £1bn. Does the PM accept that the passport office backlog is placing additional pressure on families already struggling with the cost of living crisis?”
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Mr Johnson insisted that 91% of people are receiving their passports within six weeks, and that hundreds more staff are helping the Passport Office to catch up with demand.
He added that the huge demand is a sign of ‘the robustness of the economy’.
Labour MP for Gorton Afzal Khan at PMQs. Credit: Parliament TV
Sharing a clip of their exchange in the Commons, the Gorton MP said: “I think I may have broken @BorisJohnson.”
He later posted: “I clearly cut too close to the bone with my question on passport delays yesterday because at half past ten last night @pritipatel sent me an angry letter accusing me of scaremongering ¯_(ツ)_/¯”
The Passport Office advises: “We urge people who need a new passport to apply for one as soon as possible to ensure their passport arrives in time for the peak summer season. We do offer urgent services for applicants who need a passport more quickly. However, in busy periods these are booked quickly.
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“Customers can also help to ensure there are no delays with their application, such as using a high quality photo with a digital code, applying online and applying for a new passport more than 10 weeks before they are due to travel.
“And it is important to stress, you should not book travel until you have a valid passport – your new passport will not have the same passport number as your old one.”
Featured image: Parliament TV
UK News
First batch of special releases for Record Store Day UK 2026 announced
Danny Jones
Yes, it’s nearly time for Record Store Day 2026, and the list of the first dozen or so limited edition releases here in the UK has just been announced.
With a fair few familiar and, more importantly, Northern names on there (but of course), #RSDUK26 is set to be another great one.
A total of 15 songs have been named on the lineup for this year so far, and yet again, the drops are in support of War Child, who will also be hosting a number of very special and intimate charity gigs during BRITs Week.
The two organisations have collaborated for the sixth time after having first joined forces back in 2020, and it feels like both the annual observance and its catalogue have only got better ever since.
Plenty that have caught our attention already, and there’s only more set to come…
As detailed in the post on social media, the Record Store Day team have retierated that “£1 from every single copy sold of these releases will be donated to the charity, helping to protect, educate, and stand up for the rights of the children who are living through conflict around the world.”
We quickly noticed the likes of The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, Kaiser Chiefs, Mark Knopfler and Bring Me The Horizon, just to name a few.
Once more, here is the RSD 2026 release list in full:
Record Store Day release list | 2026
Corinne Bailey Rae – Live In New York
The Cure – Greatest Hits and Acoustic Hits (compilations)
Divorce – Live at Get Together 2025 for War Child
Dr Feelgood – Oily City Confidential (OST)
Fleetwood Mac – The Original Fleetwood Mac (compilation)
James Dean Bradfield – The Great Western
Kaiser Chiefs – The Future Is Medieval
Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – ‘All The Roadrunning’
Nicky Wire – Intimism
Primal Scream – Echo Dek
Rory Gallagher – Calling Card
Sigrid x BMTH – ‘Bad Life’
The Streets – Computers & Blues
The Vaccines – What Did You Expect…. Demos and B-sides
As always, all of these titles will be available behind the counter exclusively at indie record shops all over the country on Saturday, 18 April to celebrate Record Store Day UK 2026.
Oh, and if you need help with where to start, look no further.
Harry Styles announced as latest performer at the 2026 BRIT Awards
Danny Jones
Yes, in what is set to be his Co-op Live debut (yes, the venue he’s literally invested in), Harry Styles has been confirmed as the latest blockbuster performer at this year’s BRITs.
The lineup for the 2026 BRIT Awards was already pretty stacked, but this just takes the cake.
Not long after FINALLY announcing his fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally and releasing the new lead single, ‘Aperture’, the Cheshire-born singer-songwriter is coming to the Co-op Live arena for the very first time as part of the ceremony’s live music lineup.
Absolute scenes. Screaming, crying, throwing up.
we've got news… Harry's coming home 💋🪩@Harry_Styles will be making his live TV performance debut of music from his new album 'Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.' at The BRIT Awards 2026
Watch the performance live Saturday 28th February on ITV1 & ITVX in the UK and on… pic.twitter.com/Aax3lV03xM
The 31-year-old former One Direction member turned solo artist and global megastar recently revealed a raft of live shows this coming May (and there’s been plenty of discussion surrounding ticket prices), but he’s sadly overlooked Manchester for now.
However, anyone who already secured a seat at the first-ever BRITs here in Manchester will no doubt be doing cartwheels now following the announcement.
As if that wasn’t a mega enough name, he will be joining the likes of the wonderful, already award-winning and fellow multi-time nominee, Olivia Dean.
As quite literally two of the biggest musicians on the planet right now, we couldn’t pick a better roster if we dreamed it up ourselves.
Speaking of Ms Dean, she is also one of several acts confirmed to be playing a series of intimate acts across the country – and her’s is right here in Manchester.
You can see the full lineup of gigs HERE – all we’ll say is that there’s some seriously big hitters playing very small capacity venues on this list.
What a great few weeks for music, eh?
Taking place on Sunday, 28 February, public tickets for the show unfortunately sold out some time ago for what will also be his first-ever live musical TV performance.
Perhaps his booking is at least partly why we haven’t got a standalone Harry Styles Manchester gig on the ‘Together, Together’ tour, but we’re still keeping everything crossed that he’ll announce a second leg of shows here in the UK.
You’d think he’d fancy properly headlining the gaff he helped pay for, or maybe a return to the Etihad Stadium across the way, right?
Find the complete shortlist of nominees, as well as the rest of the live music lineup for the 2026 BRITs ceremony here in Manchester, down below; and if you see on screen trying to clutch at Harry’s ankles, we’re sure you’ll understand…
Daisy Jackson -
9th June 2022 
