THE plight of a man denied renewal of his UK passport has been compared to the Windrush scandal by Sir David Crausby MP.

Joshua Rose, aged 24, applied for a passport to reunite with his family after living in Israel on and off since he was born.

He held a UK passport as a minor but HM Passport Office says it hasn’t been supplied sufficient proof of Mr Rose’s identity.

His family says the situation has left them heartbroken and has received the support of Sir David to help bring Mr Rose back to the UK.

Mr Rose, was born in southern Israel in 1994 to two British parents following their emigration with his three siblings in November, 1993.

After 10 years, their marriage broke down, and in 2003 his mother Dawn Ashworth brought him and his six siblings back to the UK.

The family relocated to Prestwich, with Mr Rose and his four younger siblings attending Bury and Whitefield Primary School and Broughton Jewish Primary School, Salford.

In 2007 the four younger children were taken back to Israel by their father, against Mrs Ashworth’s wishes, leading to lengthy court battles over their guardianship with the state of Israel. However, three years ago their father was murdered in Tel-Aviv and the children were allowed to return.

Over the next nine years Mr Rose decided to complete his education and national service in Israel. He now wants to return for a family wedding and to be with his relatives in Bolton.

Mrs Ashworth, aged 52, said: “Joshua applied for his renewal British passport in 2016 as all the younger children had British passports as minors. Joshua fast tracked his passport and had the fast track procedure at the Post Office. We received a letter back from the Passport Office back in 2016 saying his photograph had been tampered with. We could not believe this as everything had been sent off intact. His application was withdrawn and Joshua applied again last November.”

Since then Mr Rose has been interviewed by authorities in Liverpool, and has been asked to supply more documentation.

The documents demanded include utility bills which Mr Rose could not supply as a soldier funded by the Israeli military.

The deadline issued by the Passport Office for submission of the documents was April 28, so his renewal has now been withdrawn by officials.

Mrs Ashworth said: “All he wants to do is settle with his family and make his life here. The children have had really really hard lives and now we are facing this. We are heartbroken that Joshua has been refused a renewal passport to allow him to live in England with all his family."

Mr Rose’s case has been taken up by the Bolton North East MP, who likened the situation to the circumstances faced by the Windrush Generation.

Sir David said: “I have been dealing with the case since last year and it is another example of the Government’s hostile environment.

“It is not just the Windrush Generation, it is other people as well, who have got caught up with the Home Office being very difficult.

“They are quite right to be difficult with illegal immigrants, but it is spilling over into being difficult with British citizens and that is completely unacceptable in my view.

“My understanding is that when Mr Rose went to Israel he went with a British passport and if that’s the case then it should be a fairly simple case. We are on the case and we will pursue it some more.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Her Majesty’s Passport Office will not issue a passport until all checks to confirm nationality and identity have been satisfactorily completed.”