Britons

‘Too much change, but nothing really is changing for the better.’ Londoners shared mixed reactions to Keir Starmer’s resignation, voicing frustration over living costs, political turmoil and unfulfilled promises.

British tourists should expect long airport queues due to new biometric border checks

European airports have recently launched the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), which replaces the traditional manual passport stamping process with biometric registration (facial image and fingerprint scanning) to record the entry of non-EU citizens, including British holidaymakers. The new EES system is now fully up and running across all Schengen Area countries, including much-loved destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Greece.

While the new system is designed to streamline travel into and out of the Schengen Area and simplify border procedures, some travellers have reported finding themselves stuck in three-hour queues.

In certain countries, passengers have missed their return flights after failing to clear the digital system in time. The new border checks are anticipated to cause significant disruption for British travellers heading in and out of the EU during the busy summer peak periods.

While some countries such as Greece attempted to briefly suspend biometric checks for UK tourists, the Greek Foreign Ministry confirmed they are fully rolling out the EES system this summer.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) issued the latest travel guidance on the new border checks, stating: “The European Union’s (EU) new Entry/Exit System (EES) is now being implemented across the Schengen area.

“This means that when you travel into the Schengen area for short stays, you may need to register your biometric details, such as fingerprints and a photo. There is no cost for EES registration.

“On your first visit into a Schengen country, you may be asked to register your details at a special booth before proceeding to the immigration desk. Follow directions from your travel operator or the staff at your port of entry.

You may also need to provide either your fingerprint or photo when you leave the Schengen area.

Children aged 11 or younger will not have their fingerprints scanned but can be required to have their photo taken.”

“You do not need to take any action before you arrive at the border on entry to the Schengen area, but EES may take each passenger extra time to complete so be prepared to wait longer than usual at the border and to allow more time for immigration controls when you depart the Schengen area.

“EES is replacing the previous system of manually stamping passports when visitors arrive in the Schengen area for short stays. You may be asked to input biometric details every time you enter or exit.”

The EES has faced backlash from the travel sector, with the British Travel Association ABTA urging destinations and border officials to put in place stronger contingency plans for busy travel periods, reports the Express.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA, said: “The ambition of a project like EES means it was never going to go completely smoothly, and we were prepared for that. However, what is frustrating is that border authorities have it within their power to ease queues and deal with issues as they arise – but that doesn’t seem to be happening across the board.

“As we head towards peak travel periods, we’re urging border authorities to plan for busy periods and use the contingency measure available. It’s critical the Commission keeps a close eye on this.”

May 7 (UPI) — Millions of Britons were headed to the polls on Thursday to vote in local, mayoral and parliamentary elections in England, Scotland and Wales in what is being seen as a ‘mid-term’ referendum on the leadership of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Voters in Scotland and Wales are electing lawmakers to their parliaments while in England more than 5,000 seats across 136 local councils are up for grabs, including in all 32 of London’s boroughs. Elections for half or a third of the seats are being held in another 73 local voting districts.

Six English municipalities, all but one of them in London, are electing new mayors.

Labour is expected to lose as many as 2,000 seats, mainly to new parties Reform UK and the Green Party, in an historic shift to a multi-party political system from a system dominated for the past century by Labour and the Conservative Party.

Support for both parties is down sharply with Labour polling on about 20%, compared with 35% at the last set of local elections in 2022, and the Conservatives on 18%, down from about 40%.

Labour’s numbers are also sharply down from the time of the 2024 general election that brought the party to power in a landslide; the Conservatives much less so.

The worst case scenario for Labour sees it losing control of many of the 60 councils it is defending in the big cities, the party’s political heartland.

The Conservatives, who are heavily represented in rural areas, are expected to fare a little better but could lose control of a handful of the 32 councils it runs and as many 1,000 seats overall.

That type of result with a general election only two years away would dramatically ramp up pressure on Starmer, potentially triggering an internal challenge to his leadership of the party and premiership.

Starmer is already under fire for his failure to deliver on his main pledges of his “Change” election manifesto to grow the economy, end the churn and chaos of previous Conservative administrations and tackle illegal immigration, along with his botched appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the United States.

Speculation was mounting that he could face a challenge from an Angela Rayner-Andy Burnham ‘ticket’ under which former deputy prime minister Rayner, would step in to deliver the party’s manifesto before standing aside to let Manchester Mayor Burnham fight the next election, which is due to be held by July 2029 at the latest.

An aide to Rayner, who quit as deputy prime minister in September amid a scandal over underpayment of property taxes on a new home purchase, dismissed the rumors as absurd.

Labour veteran Burnham was blocked by the party from running in a by-election for a Manchester parliamentary seat in February to replace a Labour MP who was standing down. Burnham’s request to contest the election was denied by an internal party committee headed by Starmer on grounds he needed to serve out his term as mayor.

Labour went on to lose with the Green Party, beating them into third place with a 4,000-seat majority, and 12 points clear of Reform UK.

In May 2025, a win by Reform UK in an election for the Runcorn and Helsby constituency in northwestern England, another “safe” Labour seat, prompted Reform leader Nigel Farage to declare that Britain’s two-party system was “dead.”

Holiday companies have predicted a surge in bookings for UK summer breaks after a jump in interest from Britons fearful of flight cancellations linked to the Iran war.

Summer bookings are expected to rise in the coming weeks amid warnings of possible jet fuel shortages and resulting cancellations by airlines across Europe.

Raoul Fraser, the chief executive of Lovat, a holiday park operator with sites across south-west England, said traffic to its website had increased after reports of jet fuel warnings last week. “It is definitely having a positive impact for us,” he said.

“Our holidays bookings are up over 30% this year. It is a little bit like Covid, when people couldn’t get away and now they just want the certainty of a nice holiday in the UK.”

The holiday resort company Butlin’s, which has sites at Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness, said it was seeing “strong growth for the summer school holidays”.

However, its chief executive, Jon Hendry Pickup, said many families were still booking their holidays closer to the time, due to travel uncertainty and cost pressures.

“Normally we get somewhere in the region of 15% to 20% of people booking a holiday in the last four weeks before they come. Now it is roughly double that,” he said.

Jeremy Hipkiss, the managing director of the holiday parks company Landal UK, said: “Increasingly guests are choosing destinations closer to home that are easy to reach by car or public transport, giving them greater control over their plans.”

Hipkiss said that Landal’s parks in Cornwall, Scotland and Lincolnshire were “particularly popular”.

Peter Munk, the chief executive of Willerby, a specialist caravan manufacturer based in Hull, added that the cost of living pressure was also putting people off overseas travel. Inflation, which was steady at 3% in February, is expected to increase after the Iran war drove up global energy costs.

“It’s about the reality of inflation kicking off again,” he said. “Most people still want a holiday, so it might be that they have fewer days or move closer to home and not have that dream holiday.”

Travel spending fell in March for the first time since the pandemic travel restrictions lifted in 2021, dropping by 3.3%, according to data from Barclays. Spending on travel agents fell by 4.6%, airlines by 4.1%, and public transport by 2.9%.

However, Sinead O’Connor, a travel analyst at the research company Mintel, said even with the cost of living pressures, appetite for holidays remained strong.

She said its research showed 52% of Britons surveyed planned to holiday in the UK, with 49% heading overseas.

“We expect the value of the domestic holiday market to grow by about 7% this year, reaching close to £14bn and to outpace growth in overseas travel,” she said.

The overseas travel market is forecast to grow by 4.8% this year to £64.3bn, Mintel said.

Fears are rising that the oil crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East could lead to fuel shortages in Europe this summer.

This week, the head of the global energy body warned that Europe only has six weeks’ worth of jet fuel supplies before shortages will hit.

Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, said there would be flight cancellations if oil supplies were not restored within the coming weeks.

On Friday, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, Willie Walsh, said flights in Europe could be cancelled because of a lack of jet fuel starting from the end of May.

“Along with doing everything possible to secure alternative supply lines, it’s important that authorities have well-communicated and well-coordinated plans in place in case rationing becomes necessary, including for slot relief,” he added.

This month, Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, warned that Britain would be the most exposed to jet fuel shortages because it relies on Kuwait for about 25% of its supply.

Airlines around the world have already been forced to cancel some flights.

Last week, jet fuel averaged at $197.83 a barrel, according to the International Airport Transport Association, more than double the average last year.

Munk added that reports of delays at European border crossings, triggered by the EU’s new entry-exit system (EES), was also putting people off from booking overseas holidays this summer.

The airport industry has told the European Commission that the system, which requires people from the UK and other non-EU countries to submit biometric data before entering the bloc, was causing delays of up to three hours for passengers.

Last week, more than 100 passengers missed an easyJet flight from Milan to Manchester because of delays triggered by EES checks.