Inspector: High-risk flights have arrived in Britain unchecked
FAILINGS at every level of the Border Force allowed high-risk flights to land in Britain unchecked, according to an inspection report.
David Neal wrote the damning dossier earlier this year before he was sacked as the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said then that Mr Neal had breached the terms of his contract after he publicly shared his fears.
In his last two reports, published by the Home Office yesterday, he highlighted failings found by his team during a spotcheck at London City Airport.
He wrote: “Guidance designed to keep the country safe directs that all general aviation flights identified as high risk are met by Border Force staff, except in exceptional circumstances.
“At London City, only [redacted] were met in 2023.
“Guidance also directs that a third of low-risk flights are met.
“Only [redacted] were met. This is shocking and something is clearly very wrong.”
But Border Force director general Phil Douglas last night dismissed the findings, saying: “We will never compromise on border security. We perform robust security checks on those arriving into the UK. As I previously explained to Mr Neal, some of the information in this report is factually inaccurate.”
The second report, sent to the Home Secretary on February 6, regarded Mr Neal’s inspection of the social care sector. It found 275 certificates of sponsorship were granted to a care home “that didn’t exist”. The Home Office said some bodies “operating within the adult social care sector, or masquerading as doing so” had abused the opportunity presented by the care worker visa and that it had “identified these abusive practices at the earliest opportunity”.
But Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These reports are scandalous. They expose a Conservative Government which has lost control of our borders.
“From allowing high-security risk flights to swan in with zero in-person checks, through to rampant labour exploitation in the social care visa. Even now ministers are hiding the true scale of the flaws, redacting much of the information.”