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    How HS2 squandered billions to become a national embarrassment

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    HS2 will provide more track, more trains, more seats and faster journeys to improve performance and reliability across Britain’s rail network.” So says the hitherto dysfunctional organisation that has squandered billions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash with precious little to show for it.A more accurate claim might be: “We have an unlimited pot of taxpayers’ money and we are going to spend it.”New chief executive, Mark Wild, says the position he has inherited is “unacceptable” and that HS2 has “failed in its mission to control costs and deliver to schedule”.“We must intervene to regain control of the programme and reset it to deliver at the lowest feasible cost, while maintaining safety and value for money.”Since taking office, Labour has spent almost a year assembling evidence to pin the blame for the shambles on the Tories; now it must pick up the pieces and deliver at least something. Heidi Alexander on Wednesday told the House of Commons she is drawing a “line in the sand” over the beleaguered rail project, which she called an “appalling mess,” and admitted there is no chance it will open by its most recent delayed target date of 2033.These are the key questions and answers.What is the history of high-speed rail in the UK?High Speed One is the 68-mile fast railway line from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone in Kent, which opened in 2008. It cost less than £7bn, roughly £100m per mile.High Speed Two is a much more ambitious rail project, originally involving 345 miles of new high-speed track. HS2 was designed to relieve pressure on the West Coast and East Coast main lines, to move intercity passengers to a dedicated network, reduce journey times and increase capacity.The existing West Coast main line is the busiest intercity route in Europe, handling a mix of express passenger services, commuter trains and freight. There is no room for expansion, and the system has little resilience.HS2 began as a dream in 2009, gathering all-party support for a project that would unify the nation with proper 21st-century rail connections from London to the Midlands and northern England, with improved journeys to Scotland. Trains were due to start running in 2026.Sixteen years and about £40bn later, there is now no prospect of any high-speed trains running for another decade – after tens of billions more have been spent on an embarrassing stump of a line between London and Birmingham.The total cost, estimated in 2010 at £33bn for the whole project, is now expected to reach as much as £100bn for a much-reduced line: the 140 miles of Phase 1, which will include stations at London Euston, Old Oak Common in west London, Interchange Station in Solihull and Birmingham Curzon Street. The cost per mile? About £700m.What went wrong?Wild says: “Construction commenced too soon, without the conditions to enable productive delivery, such as stable and consented designs. From the start, the cost and schedule estimates were optimistic with inadequate provision for risk.”After signing nonsensical construction contracts that left taxpayers on the hook for spectacular overspends, a succession of ministers – in particular, transport secretaries – have wrought further expensive havoc by repeatedly changing their minds.The most essential parts of the scheme – a northwestern leg to Crewe and Manchester, and a northeast leg to Sheffield and Leeds – were scrapped in an attempt to save money amid ballooning costs and to try to drum up votes from motorists.In a crowded field of contenders for the most egregious act of vandalism against desperately needed national infrastructure, one figure stands out: Rishi Sunak, who scrapped the link to Manchester in a speech delivered… in Manchester. Britain’s then prime minister pretended the money saved would be spent on piecemeal transport improvements collectively called “Network North” – which turned out to include projects in Kent and Devon.Did anybody notice?Not HS2. As recently as August 2024, the organisation’s annual report claimed: “The forecast for initial services between Birmingham and Old Oak Common remains in the range 2029-2033.”In July 2023 Mark Thurston resigned after six years as chief executive, during which he earned a total of £4,495,408. The-then transport secretary, Mark Harper, praised Mr Thurston’s work, saying: “I want to thank him for his work over the last six years on progressing Britain’s most transformative rail project.”He successfully oversaw the start of construction and drove the project to full scale.”But the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, which reports to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, concluded in 2023: “There are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed.”The Department for Transport (DfT) now says: “The long-running failure to manage the programme effectively, along with repeated de-scoping under previous governments, means that the programme will not achieve its original mission and has undermined the remaining delivery.”Through all this, HS2 Ltd has demonstrated “insufficient capability and capacity in key commercial and technical functions” – according to current CEO Wild.One example quoted by the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander: “Between 2019 and 2023, HS2 Ltd provided initial designs for Euston station, coming in almost £2bn over budget. When asked for a more affordable option, they offered one costing £400m more than the first attempt. The word ‘affordable’ was clearly not part of the HS2 lexicon. “Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted by constant scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management.”When HS2 finally opens, how much faster will the journey be?The current claim is that the trip from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street will take 45 minutes, compared with 77 minutes at present on the conventional line. Initially, though, trains will run only from Old Oak Common in west London. And, says Wild, the line might open at “slightly reduced running speed”. So let’s call it 50 minutes.HS2 claims: “Our high-speed trains will continue to Manchester, the North West and Scotland using the conventional railway network, cutting journey times.”But the originally planned trip from London to Manchester of 67 minutes – almost halving the current journey time – will be much longer. With the new line northwest to Crewe and Manchester scrapped, the final section of HS2 will be a link running north from Birmingham to Handsacre Junction, where it will join the existing and heavily congested West Coast main line.Is there any hope for the northern section?A lower-cost, “quite high speed” link from Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester could provide some connectivity. The transport guru Thomas Ableman says: “The purpose of HS2 is an investment to transform the economics of this country. At the moment, Britain is one of the most unequal countries when it comes to productivity: London, incredibly high; cities of the North, some of the lowest in Europe.“This is about equalising that and it’s absolutely the right thing to do. Does that mean it needs to be a 200mph or 225mph railway? Almost certainly not. Putting in place the capacity to make that transformational change possible is far more important than the precise specification that was developed for the original HS2 project.“Quite frankly, HS2 has become something of a toxic term. A more conventional railway that provides the connectivity, provides the capacity could be exactly the way of unlocking what would otherwise be a very knotty political problem.” More

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      in UK Politics

      Voices: Is HS2 still worth completing, or is it just a £66bn mistake? Join The Independent Debate

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      With the cost of Britain’s flagship high-speed rail project soaring past £66 billion and its opening delayed yet again – this time well beyond 2033 – serious questions are being raised about the future of HS2, and what, if anything, should be salvaged.What was once promised as a transformational national infrastructure project linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds has been continuously scaled back, plagued by spiralling budgets, environmental controversies, governance failures and now, fresh allegations of fraud. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is set to confirm to Parliament this week that the project will be delayed indefinitely, conceding there is “no reasonable way to deliver” HS2 on time or within budget.Two independent reviews are due to be published imminently, one focusing on the London-Birmingham section still under construction, the other investigating the leadership and decision-making behind the project’s troubled path. Ms Alexander says this is about drawing “a line in the sand” and moving forward with lessons learned for future schemes like Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Lower Thames Crossing.But the question remains: what should become of HS2? Some argue that completing the full route as originally envisioned is the only way to realise its benefits and justify the money already spent. Meanwhile, others believe it’s time to stop the funding tap and either halt the project entirely or limit it to the part that’s already furthest along, from London to Birmingham. Now we want to know where you stand. Should HS2 be finished in full or scaled back? Or do you think it should be scrapped entirely? Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll above – we’ll feature the most compelling responses and discuss the results in the coming days.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can take part in the debate. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen. More

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      in UK Politics

      Voices: ‘It feels good to say I’m Irish’: How second passports grant readers post-Brexit travel freedom

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      As Brits grapple with the post-Brexit reality of restricted EU access, many Independent readers have been sharing why they’ve pursued second citizenship – and how it’s reshaped their identity, freedom, and sense of belonging.Jessica Furseth’s article struck a chord with those determined to reclaim their right to freedom of movement through ancestral ties, even if it meant wrestling with red tape. Her piece captured the reality of a growing trend: UK-born citizens pursuing second passports not for novelty, but necessity, reestablishing the rights they feel were stripped away by Brexit.Our readers described frantic searches through family records, cross-border paperwork marathons, and bittersweet awakenings to long-dormant heritage. Irish citizenship was the most popular route, but many also explored their Polish, German and Italian heritage. While a few wrestled with feelings of imposter syndrome, most said the outcome was worth it – not just for smoother holidays or easier work permits, but to feel connected to Europe again.The overarching view was that Brexit took something personal – and that this wave of passport reclamation isn’t just administrative – it’s emotional: about agency, identity, and quietly defying the walls that went up.Here’s what you had to say:Jus sanguinisHusband asserted his right to Italian citizenship on the basis of jus sanguinis, or bloodline, unbroken through his mother’s family. Took about two weeks after getting a codicil on his birth certificate, as a result of which my daughter has done the same (found herself frozen out of jobs otherwise) and my son should have got around to it, having studied in Italy for six years. I will be applying on the grounds of marriage, only slightly more complicated. All of this became an issue solely because of Brexit, and I’m so annoyed that the doors have been slammed in the faces of Britons who valued EU membership.MonteRosaHave you pursued a dual citizenship post-Brexit? Share your story in the commentsWonderful to still have my European citizenshipAs someone who, years after his hair became grey, became truly interested in his Irish heritage, I can only say it’s wonderful to still have my European citizenship. I can see my daughter in Holland as I please – no 90 days nonsense. I can cross any Schengen border as a true European citizen. This, as we go, for example, as a family to the Christmas fair in Oldenburg (Germany).But as we pass Mr Farage and his German-speaking family doing their Christmas shopping in Germany too, it’s good to know that more people have found this loophole!BradIt feels good to say I’m IrishI can relate to Tom Harrison. My father told me many years ago that I could claim Irish citizenship because his father was Irish, but I never saw the need. But post-Brexit, I wanted to remain an EU citizen, so I went for it, and it’s a much simpler task now with the advent of the internet. Despite visiting family and friends and having many holidays in Ireland over the years, I do feel a bit of a fraud. That said, I am immensely grateful to the Irish government for allowing it. I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable telling people that I’m British, but it feels good to be able to say that I’m Irish.BionicpantsTravel is what the EU is aboutThese people are pro-EU for the right reasons: the freedom to travel, work and live all over Europe. That is what the EU is about, the Ever Closer Union. You may notice, they don’t mention the nice side effects, like frictionless trade, no additional roaming, or certain subsidies. They embrace the Euro and the Schengen area.Should the UK want to join, they have to embrace the principles of the Ever Closer Union as well. It helps if you focus on what that means, instead of repeating the economic benefits. As said, those are just nice side effects.OrvalCan we please have Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Grealish back?As an Irish person, it’s very satisfying to hear these stories of people with Irish heritage benefiting from getting an Irish passport. Can we please have Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Grealish back as a sign of appreciation? All very pleasant chaps too from what I can see.AnonyMousseMy mother is an immigrant from an EU country, and I got an EU passport about three years ago, as a result.Interestingly, I went to Spain recently, and when spotted with my EU passport getting off a flight from Britain, they ushered me and my friend (with her British passport) through EU passport control. She went via the EU fast lane because she was with me.PrenstSwitch nationality mid-flightAfter having lived in the UK for 18 years, Brexit made it necessary for me to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen. When I now travel to my native Germany, I have to leave the UK on my British passport and arrive in Frankfurt on my German passport. As per German law, I have to use my German ID to enter/leave Germany. I could, of course, enter any other EU country on my British passport, but this would mean queuing and getting an entry stamp and then an exit stamp. When returning to the UK, I then ‘switch’ nationality again in mid-flight from being a German in the EU to being a Brit in the UK.On one occasion, I flew from Tenerife to London… as a German from Tenerife to Madrid and as Brit from Madrid to London.Baldrick’s PlanLegal technicalitiesMy mother is a French citizen, as is all her side of the family, with French government certificates back to the 14th century, but I am refused citizenship (despite also living and paying taxes in France for eight years). Reason: a legal technicality called desuetude. You may want to do some research before handing over a few grand to the lawyers!Frankx33You can’t complain about being considered a foreignerBritain’s approach to the EU always was a “what can I get in return” one… called it cakeism. What matters is being in the slow lane, no longer being able to live and work, etc. Britain would have loved to retain all EU perks without committing. You can’t complain about being considered as a foreigner while being one and expecting the same rights as EU citizens….EuropeancitizenI don’t know what I would have done with just a UK passportGot my precious Irish passport a couple of years ago, thanks to my grandfather, who was born in Ireland. This has allowed me to move from Italy back to France following retirement without any issues. I don’t know what I would have done with just a UK passport, as there is no mechanism for UK passport holders to move from one EU place of residence to another. Farage, Johnson, Gove, etc, should be imprisoned for the lies they told. I cannot believe that Farage is still so popular, says a lot for the intelligence of a good percentage of the UK population. Very sad. YaketyYakKeep the family in one piece with my Irish passportMy father was born in Ireland in 1916. I was born in England in 1944. He was an RAF pilot. I ended up marrying a German and lived happily in Solingen (which my father’s squadron bombed!) until that swine Farage stirred up his sleazy chauvinism. Thanks to my father, I was able to keep the family in one piece with my Irish passport. I am immensely grateful. And to the Germans, too, who have made me very welcome KenhubertHearteningIt is heartening to read the stories of the people who have been able to reclaim the EU citizenship stripped from them by the disgusting and mendacious Brexiteers, who have yet to apologise to the rest of us for stripping us of our rights. SturlusonNot just the youngIt’s not just young people. Us older folk are also going for dual passports after Brexit cut off our travel freedom. My Irish grandfather has now continued to be very useful after his death!JustMeHereSome of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘log in’ or ‘register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More

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      in UK Politics

      Why you might need your fingerprint scanned to go on holiday in Europe

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      British citizens will be required to have their fingerprints scanned whenever they go to the European Union due to delays in the development of digital biometrics software.Every UK passenger entering the Schengen area will need to exit their car to be photographed and fingerprinted individually. A spokesperson for the Port of Dover, which facilitates transit and trade with countries like France and the Netherlands, told The Independent the plans will be rolled out in the autumn.This is because a new biometric entry-check system for non-EU citizens was expected to be implemented last year, but this has been postponed.The Independent initially reported on the delay to the new system at the end of 2024, with suggestions that the demand for fingerprints may quietly be dropped.Every UK passenger entering the Schengen area will need to exit their car to be photographed and fingerprinted individually More

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      in US Politics

      Tourists from countries badly hit by Trump tariffs are staying away from US

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      Holidaymakers in countries hit the hardest by Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are taking the US off their list for trips abroad, according to online travel booking data.Findings from the hotel search site Trivago also suggest that UK and US travellers are increasingly choosing domestic holidays amid concerns over an uncertain economy.The company has seen double-digit percentage declines in bookings to the US from travellers based in Japan, Canada and Mexico. The latter two countries were the first on Trump’s tariff hitlist when he announced tariffs of 25% on 1 February.Canadians in particular were incensed at Trump’s repeated suggestions that its northern neighbour would be better off annexed as the 51st state of the US.According to Trivago’s findings, which were shared with PA Media, demand among Germans was also “down heavily”, with hotel bookings in the US showing a single-digit percentage decline.Germany is the largest economy in the EU, which Trump has repeatedly threatened with increased tariffs, most recently saying on Sunday he had “paused” a 50% tax he intended to introduce next month.There has not been a significant change in the numbers of UK holidaymakers travelling to the US. The UK has so far faced some of the lightest tariffs globally and last month struck a “breakthrough” trade deal with the US.Businesses operating in its $2.6tn tourism industry are becoming increasingly concerned about a “Trump slump” due to the turmoil the president’s tariff war is causing on the global economy.Last month, the federal government’s National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures showing visits to the US from overseas fell by 11.6% in March compared with the same month last year.Bookings made via Expedia-owned Trivago also show that Americans are spending less on their trips, while there is higher demand for cheaper hotels and lower star categories.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionTrump has levied tariffs on more than 180 countries, but has paused many of his tariffs for periods of up to 90 days while governments seek to negotiate deals.Recent booking data shows that in the UK there has been a 25% year-on-year leap in demand for domestic travel for the important months of July to September.“In times of uncertainty, people stay closer to home,” said Johannes Thomas, chief executive of Trivago.Trivago’s research has shown that London is the top destination for British tourists, followed by Edinburgh, where demand is up by nearly 30%, then York, Blackpool and Manchester. More

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      in UK Politics

      Will UK-EU deal really result in British travellers using e-gates at EU airports?

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      “British holidaymakers will be able to use more e-gates in Europe, ending the dreaded queues at border control” – so says the government after the “post-Brexit reset deal” was agreed between the UK government and the European Union.Ministers have been talking up the prospect of speeding up passport formalities for British travellers at EU airports.Nick Thomas-Symonds, European Union Relations minister, says it will give British travellers “more time to spend on holiday or work trips… doing what you want, not being stuck in queues”.But how will it work – and when might UK passport holders notice? Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, has had plenty of time to contemplate the subject while waiting in long queues at EU airports.What are the rules for UK passport holders travelling to and from the EU?After the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, the UK negotiated for British travellers to be “visa-exempt third-country nationals” – the same as dozens of other nationalities from Australia to Venezuela.Despite some newspaper claims that “Brussels is forcing Brits to queue”, we actually demanded the right to wait in line for longer – surrendering the right to fast-track lanes.While citizens of the EU and the wider Schengen area (including Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) speed through frontier formalities, British passport holders join the “other nations” queue.What does this mean in practice? If you fly into a European airport just after an Airbus A380 arrives from Dubai with more than 500 people on board, you’ll know that you’re going to be waiting for some time.Queuing for an hour or more for British travellers are not unusual at busy airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol, Milan Malpensa and Paris Charles de Gaulle, while holders of EU passports or identity cards speed through. UK travellers also face problems when travelling home, because of the need to be checked on the way out of the EU. Some airline passengers have missed flights because the exit queues for passport control are so slow.Why do passport queues move so slowly?For each UK arrival, EU frontier officials are required to check:The traveller has “sufficient means of subsistence” during the planned visitThey will not breach the maximum stay limit of 90 days in Europe in the past 180 daysThey have “the means to return to the country of origin” (ie a ticket out of the EU)In addition, the border guard must stamp the passport – which is also necessary on departure. What’s different for EU citizens?The Schengen Border Code of the European Union, which is the Bible of frontier rules, stipulates “separate lanes, indicated by uniform signs … in international airports” in order “to reduce the waiting times of persons enjoying the Union right of free movement”.Those separate lanes move quickly because the only check made for EU citizens is that their travel document is valid and that it belongs to them. This verification can be made swiftly and efficiently by e-gates which match the traveller’s face with the biometric information on the travel document.So how will the passport process for UK travellers be improved?British travellers are not currently allowed in the EU fast track queue as arrangements stand, because of two obstacles: The legal requirement for British travellers to be checked to ensure they meet the conditions of entry to the EUUnhappiness among Europeans if the British, who voted to surrender the benefits of membership of the European Union, are allowed to swerve into their lane and slow things downThe solution is to accelerate processing using e-gates – which is already being done.Two versions are currently being offered:Special “third-country national” e-gates, speeding up the face check for British and other nationalities. This happens in Rome.Allowing UK (and other favoured nations) passport holders to use the e-gates for EU citizens and British travellers are then flagged to see a border guard, as is the practice at Amsterdam Schiphol and Lisbon.Using e-gates is a win for the host country as well as for British travellers, because it allows the authorities to process routine passengers more swiftly.Facial recognition is now so sophisticated that matching the traveller against their passport is a task that e-gates can do easily and quickly, leaving officers to concentrate on “persons of interest”.What exactly have UK ministers negotiated?The exact wording is that “British holidaymakers will be able to use more e-gates in Europe” (my italics).The roll-out of e-gates to UK travellers is happening anyway, because it helps the authorities process travellers more efficiently, but that process could accelerate with new impetus from Brussels.But “more e-gates being agreed” and “rejoining the fast track passport queues” are by no means the same thing.Where did the idea that we would actually be able to join those fast-track lane come from?This is all to do with the EU’s much-delayed entry-exit system – which is now due to begin being rolled out in October.The plan involves every Schengen area external border being connected with a central database, with comings and goings registered digitally rather than through stamps in passports. The aim is to keep tabs on arriving and departing travellers and detect over-stayers more easily.Initially it will be something of a nightmare. The EES will require third-country nationals such as British visitors to provide facial biometrics and fingerprints. The time taken to process a planeful of UK passengers arriving at Palma could quadruple – and even longer at Dover and Folkestone for motorists heading across to France.On that subject: ministers and transport companies hope EU officials will accept that the latest facial recognition technology is so accurate that fingerprinting isn’t necessary – which would accelerate the whole process.In time, when the system is fully up and running, it is feasible that British passport holders will be allowed to go through an e-gate with no further check – because the database will know about previous comings and goings.When the Etias “euro-visa” comes online (no less than six months after the entry-exit system is running flawlessly) the digital infrastructure will also be able to verify if the traveller has a valid permit.Any change on the ‘90-day rule’?No. That limit remains firmly in place, and will be made easier to enforce with the entry-exit system.I have an Irish passport. What does this mean for me?Nothing changes: you are still able to use the fast track, and the EU border officer is allowed only to check that your passport is valid and that it belongs to you.For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast More

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      in US Politics

      Keep calm (but delete your nudes): the new rules for travelling to and from Trump’s America

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      Kindness doesn’t cost a thing. Putting up a big “no foreigners welcome” sign, threatening to annex your neighbour, and throwing visitors to your country into detention for minor visa infractions, however? Such actions are expensive. The United States is on track to lose $12.5bn (£9.4bn) in international travel spending this year, according to a study published on Tuesday by the World Travel and Tourism Council.If the Trump administration is concerned that its aggressive rhetoric is costing tourist dollars, it’s not showing it. During a recent press conference about the 2026 Fifa World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, vice president JD Vance joked about deporting football fans who outstay their welcome. “We’ll have visitors from close to 100 countries. We want them to come…” Vance said. “But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home, otherwise they’ll have to talk to [Homeland Security] secretary Noem.” That’s Kristi Noem, the woman who shot her own dog. Not someone you want to talk to when she’s in a bad mood.Judging by the drop-off in visitors, many people have decided that a trip to the US just isn’t worth the risk right now. As a green card holder – and someone with family in the UK who have been thoroughly put off coming to visit the US – this is a question I’ve been wrestling with for the past few months. So, for somewhat selfish reasons, I spoke to a number of immigration lawyers and civil rights experts to try to figure out the new rules, across different demographics, for travelling to and from Trump’s America.View image in fullscreenFirst, though: the big picture. It is hard to quantify exactly how much things have changed at the border since the start of Trump’s second term. There have been plenty of scary stories in the news but that might not reflect a policy shift – it could just mean the media is paying more attention to the subject. Murali Bashyam, an immigration lawyer based in North Carolina, believes that while “there are more issues at the port-of-entry than before”, fears of being detained “are overblown to some extent”.Other immigration lawyers are more worried. Camille Mackler, executive director of a legal service provider collaborative called Immigrant Arc, stresses: “Things have fundamentally shifted – although whether that shift is happening systematically at the airport level or on an individual officer level is harder to say.” But, she says, there seems to be a clear trend: “The Trump administration wants to increase deportation numbers, and they’re going after any case they can. Enforcement has become much more aggressive.”According to Golnaz Fakhimi, legal director of Muslim Advocates, one of the biggest shifts is “the targeting of non-citizens based on viewpoints and ideology”. There are two executive orders that set the stage for this targeting: EO 1461 Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, and EO 14188, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism. The first EO lays the groundwork to deport or deny entry to foreigners based on their political and cultural views. The second uses a broad definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel’s policies or government.Since Trump passed those orders, says Fakhimi, “there’s been a lot of rhetoric reinforcing those policies and we’ve seen actual instances of what looks like viewpoint-based scrutiny. All of this points to a kind of risk that non-citizens – including lawful permanent residents – should be aware of, especially when it comes to ideological expression.”View image in fullscreenCriticism of the Israeli government or support for Palestinian rights seems to be at the “forefront of what’s being targeted” now, says Fakhimi. “But many of us worry that the scrutiny won’t stay limited to those viewpoints. It may already be expanding. There was one case reported in the media involving a French researcher who was denied entry, possibly because of content on their phone that was critical of the US president. Inside the US, we’ve also seen targeting of immigrant-rights activists – Jeanette Vizguerra in Colorado for example.”Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born researcher at Harvard Medical School who has been detained since February, may have been targeted because of her political views. “So it’s important for non-citizens to be clear-eyed about what viewpoints they’ve publicly expressed – especially online – when considering the risks of international travel.”View image in fullscreenIt’s also prudent to assume that your social media activity has been examined. “Social media identifiers are now required on forms like the visa application or Esta [for the visa waiver programme],” says Sophia Cope, senior staff attorney on the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s civil liberties team. “We’ve heard anecdotal reports of agents referencing social media during questioning.”It is not only non-citizens who should be worried. Hasan Piker, a left-wing YouTuber and US citizen, was recently held and questioned for hours by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials in Chicago after returning from France. In a video, Piker says the agents seemed to know who he was and asked about his political beliefs, including repeated questions about his views of Hamas. A CBP official called the suggestion that Piker was targeted for his political views “baseless”.View image in fullscreenAmir Makled, a Lebanese-American lawyer representing one of the University of Michigan pro-Palestine campus protesters, was recently stopped at Detroit Metro airport and interrogated by a tactical terrorism response team agent. Makled has said the agents knew exactly who he was; his phone was searched and they asked about his contacts. Eventually, he was allowed to go home.The Makled case was very troubling, says Cope, because it suggests targeting based on political association. “CBP denied this, but during the inspection, they asked to see his contact list. That implies they weren’t interested in him, but in who he knew. That’s outrageous. We litigated a case on this for four years – unfortunately, the courts didn’t rule in our favour – but we learned that CBP believes it has the authority to search devices not just when the traveller is a suspect, but also to gather intelligence on someone else the traveller may be connected to … It’s a form of dragnet intelligence gathering.”When it comes to intelligence gathering at the border, officials have carte blanche. After your international flight lands on US soil and before you clear customs, you are in something of a no man’s land in relation to civil rights. “The normal fourth amendment requirement of a warrant or individualised suspicion doesn’t apply,” says Nate Freed Wessler, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union. Some states offer slightly more protection than others, however. In the ninth circuit, which covers the western US, the rules are “most protective”, says Wessler. “For a manual search (where an agent is just scrolling through your phone), no individual suspicion is needed, but the search must be for digital contraband – like classified documents.“For a forensic search, where they plug your phone into a device to extract and analyse the entire contents, there must be reasonable suspicion that the phone contains digital contraband. And if the purpose is anything else, like gathering intelligence or helping another domestic agency, then a warrant would be required.”For most of the country, however, it’s anything goes. “The only minimal protection CBP has in their policy is distinguishing between manual and forensic searches. For a forensic search, they say they need reasonable suspicion, but they don’t define what that means. For a manual search, there are no guardrails. They argue it’s less invasive, but that’s just not true. They can still do keyword searches and spend hours combing through your device.”View image in fullscreenThey don’t have access to everything on your phone, however. Customs and Border Protection policy requires agents to put devices in flight mode before searching, to avoid accessing cloud data. It’s not a bad idea to put your phone in flight mode before you travel to understand what is stored on the cloud and what is local.What if you refuse to give your passcode to officers or say you don’t consent to a search? Consequences differ depending on your immigration status. If you’re a green card holder or citizen they can still take your phone. “They can’t compel you to give your passcode, but they can seize the phone and send it to a forensic lab, where it might sit for weeks or months while they try to break into it,” says Wessler. “For visa holders, it’s trickier. If you refuse to unlock your phone, they may just deny you entry, claiming you’re not cooperating in assessing admissibility.” And in the very worst scenario they might throw you into a detention centre before sending you home.Searches, to be clear, are still very rare. “Claims that CBP is searching more electronic media due to the administration change are false,” CBP assistant commissioner of public affairs Hilton Beckham said in a statement last month. “CBP’s search numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.01% of travellers have their devices searched … Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible.”If you’re worried these allegations aren’t quite as baseless as CBP insists, Wessler says: “The safest approach is not to travel with data you wouldn’t want the US government to access.”Let’s say you’re a British citizen who has been outspoken, on social media and elsewhere, about your pro-Palestinian or anti-Trump views. Would it be a foolish idea to travel to the US right now? “I wouldn’t say ‘don’t come,’ but I’d say evaluate your risk and risk tolerance,” says Wessler. “The government is being extremely aggressive with students and activists, and there’s always a chance a border agent might act on something they find politically disagreeable. Most travellers are still fine – but the risk is real and well above zero.” So, basically, nothing is very clear? Pretty much, says Wessler. “The law is a complete mess, and people’s options are a complete mess. People just have to make a risk assessment based on extremely imperfect information.”The first step in making that risk assessment is to thoroughly understand the rules for the specific visa you’ll be travelling on or your immigration status. “The Foreign Affairs Manual is a great resource,” says immigration lawyer Tahmina Watson. “It’s what consular officers use, and it’s publicly accessible. It lays out what officers are looking for, visa by visa. We’re now advising clients more than ever to understand the B1/B2 visa rules. B1 is for business, B2 for tourism. When CBP asks why you’re here, they’re listening for key phrases – ‘I’m visiting my grandmother,’ ‘I’m going to Disneyland,’ etc. The manual also talks about proof of ties to your home country – job, house, bills. That stuff matters.”Having any sort of criminal record or contact with the criminal legal system is a major part of a risk assessment. “I just spoke with a US citizen who had married a green card holder,” says Watson. “They were returning from their honeymoon when he was detained. He had a conviction from when he was 18, served his time, and had travelled internationally for more than 30 years since without issue. But this time, he was detained, and it will be very difficult to get him out.”If you’re a green card holder with a criminal record, Watson strongly advises against leaving the country. “Not until you’ve spoken with a lawyer. Even a long-ago conviction can result in detention now.” If you’ve ever overstayed a visa, even for a day, you should also speak to a lawyer before travelling.Students have their own set of issues to look for. “For students or others with campus affiliations, we’d want to know if there’s been any scrutiny or disciplinary action at the university level,” says Fakhimi. “Another factor is whether any third parties have tried to spotlight or mischaracterise your views to attract federal attention. Groups like Betar US, for example, have devoted resources to building lists of political protesters they want deported.”And then, of course, you’ve got to think about any public statements you’ve made and whether you can or should delete them. “For some, minimising the visibility of their views might feel like the right way to reduce risk,” says Fakhimi. “For others, staying publicly vocal and visible with their beliefs might feel too important to compromise. It’s really about what trade-offs someone is willing to make, and what decision they can live with.”One thing that sustains Fakhimi, she says, is how many people are unwilling to censor themselves for their safety. “I’ve been incredibly moved and inspired by the courage of non-citizens – people with precarious status, even undocumented – who continue to speak out on a range of injustices. They see these issues as interconnected, and despite the risks, they’re standing firm.” Sometimes, staying true to your beliefs is more important than a trip to Disney World. More

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      US’s $2.36tn tourism business fears ‘Trump slump’ over tariff turmoil

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      Batman said business was so-so, and King Kong beat his chest in agreement. But neither could predict that it would improve. Gotham’s caped crusader and his muscular ape neighbour could only hope. As with Times Square’s superhero-themed visitor-photography business last week, so it is with the US tourism business at large.The effect of economic and political turbulence on the number of foreign visitors coming to the US is for now hard to define. But both – whether through tariffs, currency exchange chaos, or fears over political ill-winds – are sending chills through the $2.36tn business, the world’s most powerful travel and tourism market.Warnings that international tourism to the US could be hit by Donald Trump’s effort to re-engineer economic and political relations with the rest of the world are slowly emerging.The federal government’s National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures last week showing visits to the US from overseas fell 11.6% in March compared with the same month last year. According to the data released on Tuesday, international arrivals from China were down nearly 1%. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, the CEO of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, called it the “Trump Slump”.The Delta Air Lines CEO, Ed Bastian, also said the company would not expand flying in the second half of the year because of disappointing bookings amid Trump’s unpredictable trade policies after cutting its first-quarter earnings outlook, citing weaker-than-expected corporate and leisure travel demand.“In the last six weeks, we’ve seen a corresponding reduction in broad consumer confidence and corporate confidence,” Bastian told CNBC, adding things “really started to slow” in mid-February.The Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority said last week it was projecting a 5% decline in room tax revenue for its upcoming budget – a decline that may reflect Trump’s trade disputes with Canada and Mexico. Those countries account for 2.6 million visitors to sin city, or half of international travel trade.LVCVA’s president, Steve Hill, warned at a budget meeting that short-term projected declines do not make a trend, “although we do expect that this is the start of a decline in international visitation. At some level, the conversation around the tariffs has also alienated some of our potential visitors.”The travel forecasting company Tourism Economics, which late last year projected the US would have nearly 9% more international arrivals this year, along with a 16% increase in spending, revised its annual outlook last week to predict a 9.4% decline in arrivals.The company’s Geena Bevenour said in an email statement that the revised forecast represented “a substantial setback” and eclipsed “the US downside scenario we released in late-February, reflecting a more contentious context for inbound travel and more severe tariff announcements than previously expected.”On the upside, a weakening dollar against sterling, the euro, Japanese yen and Swiss franc could make travel to the US more attractive. Despite the variables, New York this week was full of international visitors, many on Easter break, and others from further afield.A couple from Scotland, who offered their names as James and Zoe, were waiting to board the Staten Island ferry with their two children on Thursday afternoon, and said they weren’t fazed about tariffs or anti-European rhetoric from the White House. Nor had they encountered elevated difficulties at immigration at JFK – aside from the long queues.Notwithstanding their advance booking, the couple said they would not hesitate to return – and had booked a holiday in Florida for next year. “I can see both sides, from a right and left perspective on tariffs and and the US wanting to put its house in order first.”A couple from Belgium, Dave and Gwen Desmet, returning from a boat trip to the Statue of Liberty, said they had been apprehensive at immigration but encountered no problems. But they said that if the trip had not already been booked, they would have waited to better understand the reality of the impact of Trump’s upheavals.“There’s more anxiety,” said Gwen, who said she had advised her son to delete an essay about Donald Trump on his laptop, adding that she was alarmed by changes to US government policy around diversity and gender.Her daughter had worried that it was “not a good time to go to New York”. But her husband, Dave, reasoned that media was “playing a big role” in stirring anxiety and “creating negativity”.Last week, China issued warnings for citizens considering travelling or studying in the US. China’s ministry of culture and tourism cited the “deterioration of China-US economic and trade relations and the domestic security situation in the United States”.American Ring Travel, a tour operator based in California, offers carbon-neutral bus tours of the US that often attract eco-conscious travelers from Europe, said bookings from Germany flattened starting in January after Elon Musk threw his support behind a far-right political party in that country’s federal election.Many travel agents say it may be too early to tell if, beyond visitors from Canada, the US will see its post-Covid gains in foreign tourism wiped out or even reversed.Later this month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) will release new figures on international travel. Global hotel chains like Hilton Worldwide are seeing share price declines.One high-end travel agent, accustomed to arranging international White Lotus-style luxury holidays for wealthy clients, said he had not seen any changes – yet. But it was still early days. “I think we’re going to feel it soon. People aren’t exhausted yet. But they’re clearly stressed – and will be, especially if their disposable income gets hit,” they said. More

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      ‘I’m super worried’: fewer UK tourists visiting US amid Trump’s policies and rhetoric

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      After backpacker Rebecca Burke was arrested and locked up for nearly three weeks by US immigration ­officials, she started urging people not to travel to America.Britons seem to have listened: the number of UK residents visiting the US was down 14.3% in March compared with the same month in 2024, official figures show.Analysts believe that Donald Trump’s claims that other countries were “cheating” Americans, and reports of deportations, may have had a chilling effect on travel to the US. But the March dip may be simply an early warning of a bigger fall in the summer, because tourists typically book holidays months in advance.“Once we get into July, August, September, most of those trips will have been booked,” said David Edwards, founder of the Scattered Clouds travel consultancy.“But if there is less global trade, there will be less international business travel. Business travel is booked with a much shorter lead time so if there is uncertainty, business travel could take a swifter hit.”Spring is difficult for travel companies to analyse because Easter moves in the calendar. So could the comparative drop simply be the effect of the Easter school holidays falling in March 2024? It seems unlikely, Edwards said, because the figures from the US National Travel and Tourism Office show an even bigger drop, of 16%, compared with March 2019 when Easter was on 21 April and Trump was nearing the end of his first term.Travellers from other countries also seemed to avoid the US in March – visitors from western Europe who stayed at least one night in the US were down 17% in March, year-on-year. German visitors were down 28.2% and Spanish ones down 24.6% compared with 2024. Overall, global travel to the US was down 11.6%. UK residents make up the largest number of overseas visitors to the US, with 3.9 million a year.View image in fullscreenTTG, the travel industry magazine, published a poll last week showing that two-thirds of travel agents it contacted believed there had been a downturn in bookings, while only 12% of operators said their business had not been affected. Demand for hotel rooms in the US may also be falling. Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality ­analytics at CoStar, which tracks hotel room occupancy, said that the strong dollar had led to an 8% fall in visitors in 2024.“So now with the rhetoric that’s going on, I’m super worried that we’re going to continue to see travel numbers below 2019, maybe even decelerating from 2024,” he said. “Saying ‘you’re cheating us, you have a ­surplus, so we’re going to put a ­tariff on you’ – that rhetoric is not very welcoming.”Research by VisitBritain in 2022 showed that international ­travellers ranked “destination is a ­welcoming place to visit” as the second most important factor in choosing a holiday.View image in fullscreenAfter publicity around deportations of tourists, including Germans and Australians, the UK and German governments have updated their travel advice to warn citizens of the risk. The incidents may also harm the appeal of the 2026 World Cup – currently due to take place in the US, Canada and Mexico, with the later knockout stages entirely in the US – and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Freitag said.“Next year will be very big … If I’m a German father with two boys and I want to show them the World Cup, am I really going to spend $1,000 a pop on an airfare, plus hotel, plus the ticket, if there’s even a remote chance that I will not be able to make it into the country? I’m not going to take that risk. Not everyone will think that, but probably some people will.”Clare Collins, co-founder and chief operations officer for CT Business Travel, said that she expected there would be a decline in leisure travel to the US in the summer, but had not yet seen an impact on business travel.“We’re not seeing any dramatic effects yet for business travel, but that could change in two weeks,” she said. “I think [in] the long-term leisure market, people will choose to spend their money elsewhere.”If the March dip turns into a major fall in travellers from the UK, some airlines may start cutting routes, Edwards said, and that could have an impact on the British economy.The UK travel industry recovered from the Covid pandemic mostly because American tourists flocked to Europe, buoyed by a strong dollar that made hotels more affordable in London and Paris.“Europeans may be thinking ‘I’m not so sure that the US is a welcoming place to visit’,” Edwards said. “Equally, it might be that Americans are thinking ‘how welcome would I be if I go to Europe this year?’” More