Lord Taylor of Holbeach:

On 12 June, I repeated an answer given earlier that day in the House of Commons to an urgent question tabled there on passports, the answer being given by my Rt.Hon. Friend the Home Secretary. In the debate that followed, at column 510 of Hansard, I said that in both March and May, Her Majesty’s Passport Office had recorded the highest level of applications received for any month over the past 12 years.

I regret that this was incorrect. I should have said that in March and May, Her Majesty’s Passport Office had recorded the highest level of applications received for any month over the past 8 years although, since January, they have been dealing with a higher demand for passports than for the same period over the last 12 years.