Sacre bleu – Eurostar bosses ban the Mail!

Not content with letting anyone into UK without a passport check, now they censor newspaper that exposed the loophole

EUROSTAR banned the Daily Mail for exposing a security threat that allows passengers to reach Britain without identification.

A manager wrote to staff telling them not to display this newspaper on services between London and the Continent.

The measure – in place yesterday and on Monday – was criticised by security experts and MPs.

On Monday, the Mail exposed a significant flaw in the Brussels to London via Lille service, whereby passengers are able to travel from Belgium to the UK without passports or identification.

Those wishing to exploit the loophole purchase a ticket for a peak early-evening service between Brussels and Lille – where they are not required to show a passport because of the EU’s passport-free Schengen Agreement – and simply remain on the train to London.

Single tickets for the trip are normally unavailable, but this newspaper managed to complete the journey twice by purchasing an ‘abonnement’ – a monthly commuter pass – for £240, which allows travel at peak times. Up to one month’s worth of single tickets between Brussels and Lille on Eurostar’s peak service can then be purchased for just £2.60 each.

Identification was not required for the abonnement and the Mail managed to purchase one pass in cash using a hotel address.

A security measure used during off-peak hours of segregating Lillebound passengers into one carriage is abandoned for the line’s busy 5.56pm weekday service to London. Home Secretary Amber Rudd acknowledged on Monday that the Mail had exposed ‘a very serious matter’. Eurostar initially insisted it was adhering to Home Office guidelines.

But it bowed to pressure yesterday and released a statement saying all passengers on the 5.56pm service would be subject to the same security measures as passengers on quieter services.

Among other measures, full ID checks were announced for all passengers leaving the train at London St Pancras. Rory Geoghegan, founder of the Centre for Public Safety think-tank, said: ‘The safety of the public is too important to be airbrushed out when the realities may be embarrassing.

‘Britain – and mainland Europe – face a significant terrorist threat. Eurostar would do better to focus on fixing flaws rather than attacking the messenger.’

The ‘Lille loophole’ was first discussed during a House of Commons debate in 2001. A Eurostar worker said: ‘ Eurostar are angry it’s now in the public domain because they could have closed the loophole at least two years ago.’

A Eurostar spokesman said: ‘There are occasions when we might choose not to display something in our departure lounges or on board, and the stories in the Daily Mail which implied a link between our service and terrorism is an example of this.

‘We take our security and immigration requirements very seriously.’