Border farce

AS A former Met police Special branch officer, who worked extensively at UK airports, I know that the Mail’s story concerning stolen or otherwise illicitly obtained british passports being used to facilitate illegal entry will come as no surprise to hard-pressed, demoralised UK border Force officers.

These same officers reacted with a mixture of anger and amusement at the usual Home Office ‘comfort’ statement by immigration minister Caroline Nokes that everything was under control.

The UK border Force at Heathrow and other airports is held together by temporary staff known as ‘seasonals’, who have undergone just two weeks’ training.

Already this summer, there have been huge queues, with Heathrow waiting times as long as two-and-ahalf hours, leading to missed flight connections and business appointments, prompting angry scenes.

This has resulted in customs controls being abandoned as anti- smuggling UK border Force (UKBF) officers are re-deployed to inspect passports.

The existence of huge queues increases the pressure on UKBF officers to ‘land’ passengers quickly, which may well include those in possession of fraudulent passports. Therefore, to suggest our borders are secure is arrant nonsense.

The reality is that the UKBF is woefully understaffed, has a poor sickness record and retention rate and, as measured by the Home Office’s own staff survey, morale is low, with little confidence in ministers and Home Office senior managers.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has more than a collapsing police service to worry about. C. HOBBS, London.