Backlog Britain has become the modus operandi of this Conservative government. The fact is, Boris Johnson is presiding over some of the worst backlogs this nation has ever seen, writes Bradford West MP Naz Shah in this opinion piece.

In May the Prime Minister was claiming that to the best of his knowledge, everybody was getting their passports within 4-6 weeks. Yet, within weeks of the summer holidays, delays at the passport office mean people are told they might have to wait up to 10 weeks for passport renewals – with 35,000 people waiting over ten weeks in the first quarter of the year.

If somehow you miraculously get your passport or don’t need to reapply for a new one, you still become part of the backlogs by waiting hours at the airport.

Queues at key ports such as Dover have stretched to over 30 miles at points this year, with lorry drivers waiting up to 12 hours. If you’re trying to obtain or renew a driving licence, be prepared to join a queue waiting months in a 740,000 backlog.

But it is not just one sector, Britain is backlogged in all front-line services.

Nationally we have a record number of patients waiting for NHS treatment, with waiting lists for planned NHS treatment standing at 6.5 million. I know first-hand from the cases I receive of the difficulty people are facing in getting access to a GP appointment and it’s not without a reason. In Bradford, there are more than 2,800 patients per GP, whereas the national average is 2,100 patients per GP.

The situation in trying to access a dentist appointment is even more dreadful. Members of the public are having to travel miles to access dentists. For example, in local towns like Halifax patients are told to travel to Bradford, however, Bradford patients are already struggling to get appointments here, which is causing delays on a large scale and regional level. The Shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting MP, spoke last week of people resorting to DIY dentistry and literally pulling their own teeth out with pliers, due to suffering from excruciating toothaches but being unable to access a dentist.

There are delays in our courts, with over 25% of cases waiting over a year to be heard. The police are facing rising delays in charging cases. The median number of days between offence and charge have tripled since 2016 (14 days to 44 days). Delays in prosecuting suspected criminals have hit a record 708 days for the average time it takes to go from offence to completion of a case.

The Prime Minister has already lost the trust of over one third of his parliamentary party and his focus on internal party battles means he has lost the grip on running the country.

With the cost-of-living crisis looming over us and the OECD predicting the UK will go from the second-fastest growing economy in the G7 group of industrial nations, to the slowest growing in 2023, we must stop the Conservatives from dragging this country into the ground.

Therefore, we urgently need a Labour government, with our plan for Britain being pushed through government. A plan, which gives families across the UK security, by growing our economy and ending the years of low growth which in turn impacts pay, inflation, and Britain’s place as a world leader. A plan that gives Britain immediate business security, energy security and supply chain security in order to turn the tide to the growing issues facing our nation. That plan for Britain must start by getting rid of Boris Johnson and stopping him from further wrecking our great nation.