Border checks need reform, MPs warn

A TROUBLING lack of supervision and failures in communication led to the UK’s border checks being relaxed too frequently, MPs have warned.

A thorough reform of the way in which the Home Office and the UK Border Agency interact is needed to make the agency fit for purpose, the Commons home affairs select committee said. It launched its investigation after the head of the UK border force Brodie Clark quit his 40-year career in the Home Office last year amid the row over lax border security. He admitted using guidance designed for health and safety emergencies to suspend fingerprint checks at the UK’s ports, but accused Home Secretary Theresa May of blaming him for “political convenience”.

The MPs said they were “shocked” that the guidance, issued five years ago for the Home Office Warnings Index, a list of suspected terrorists, had been invoked 50 times between May and July 2011.