No check on terror flights

OFFICIALS are failing to check thousands of high-risk flights a year, a think tank claimed yesterday.

It described Britain’s Border Force as in “complete disarray”.

The Adam Smith Institute report claimed up to 4,197 high-risk flights a year were not met by Border Force officers.

Many land at private airfields but others are from terrorist hotspots such as Pakistan or Yemen.

The institute also said parts of the force’s security system were years out of date.

The Home Office said the report’s claims were inaccurate. A spokesman insisted: “Our officers meet any flight considered to be high risk.”

NEW analysis of official reports reveals that the UK Border Force could be failing to check as many as 4,000 high-risk flights landing at private airfields. Migrants coming here by sea have put our border defences under pressure but protecting the coast makes up only a part of our border guards’ responsibilities.

That the Border Force is failing to provide adequate coverage of our airfields is not good enough. Allowing suspicious planes to land here unchecked is inviting trouble. The Government must prove that it takes border security seriously by properly funding those tasked with upholding it.