Lewes MP concerned about ‘16-year-old constituent’ stranded in Denmark after change to UK border rules
The MP for Lewes has expressed concern about a ‘16-year-old constituent’ stranded in Denmark.
Liberal Democrat James MacCleary said in a Facebook post on Thursday, March 19, that the teenager was ‘stuck’ in the country ‘due to the Government’s recent changes to the rules for dual nationals’.
His post shared a link to a Guardian article, in which the names of those involved had been changed. The article said the girl had not been allowed to board a flight to London because of new UK border rules and was facing a possible six-week wait for a passport.
The article is at www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/19/uk-schoolgirl-stranded-denmark-dual-national-rules.
Mr MacCleary said: “This is a deeply concerning example of how these changes are having real, damaging consequences for people, in this case potentially affecting a young girl’s GCSEs. The Home Secretary must urgently provide a low-cost, fast alternative for dual nationals stranded abroad. If she fails to act, the Prime Minister must step in to end this chaos, before more children and families are left to pay the price.”
The Government said at www.gov.uk/dual-citizenship that dual nationals can travel to the UK using a valid UK passport or Irish passport. They can also travel to the UK with a certificate of entitlement, which costs £589 to apply for.
The Home Office announced on February 25, 2026, that new border rules had come into effect, which means non-visa nationals are barred from entering the UK without an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). Before the change, people with dual nationality could use a non-British passport to leave and re-enter the UK. But on November 24, 2025, the Home Office had said: “The UK government strongly advises dual British citizens to make sure they have a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement, to avoid problems like being denied boarding when travelling to the UK from 25 February 2026.”
It added that British and Irish citizens, including dual citizens, are exempt from needing an ETA.
An article published to the House of Commons Library section of www.parliament.uk on Friday, March 20, said the Home Office acknowledged that introducing the ETA scheme has ‘significant implications for some British dual nationals’. It said the Home Office had been ‘advising British dual nationals to travel on a British passport or with a certificate of entitlement since October 2024, through gov.uk and a broader publicity campaign’.