Protecting our ports isn’t a job for ‘Dad’s Army’

I was astonished to read your report last week about the Home Office’s bizarre plan to enlist a ‘Dad’s Army’ of volunteers to help patrol our coastline. We have the sixth most powerful military in the world with more than 300,000 active personnel –surely we should be using some of them at our ports? Mervyn Williams, Huddersfield I hope your critical headline on the creation of a ‘Special Volunteer Force’ to be the eyes and ears of the Border Force at isolated ports and airfields doesn’t mean you support the militant PCS union leader in dismissing the plan out of hand.

I’m old enough to remember how the bravery of volunteers proved so invaluable during the Blitz. Faced with the choice of relying on conscientious volunteers or PCS jobsworths looking for a chance to go on strike, I know which I’d choose! Roy Daniels, Luton For the past 20 years, I have regularly sailed my yacht back and forth from Torquay to France and I have never been inspected by the Border Force on the UK coast. When I first started sailing in 1988, Torquay had two Customs officers as well as a Customs and Excise department that dealt with VAT. They are long gone.

When I am in French waters, I am checked regularly. Unless there is a dedicated personnel fit for purpose, there is no chance of controlling our borders. David Buckpitt, Torquay Even if we had an effective system for protecting our borders, it would be to no avail as our judiciary is determined to protect the human rights of people entering the country illegally, including criminals. D. Harris, Fareham, Hampshire Our lifeboat service is manned by volunteers and they do a spectacular job in protecting I served in the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) for 11 years prior to stand-down in 1991.

I wonder if the tradition of serving in such a force for little financial gain will appeal to a younger generation. In the ROC we worked from some very remote bunkers with few mod cons, for expenses only.

If the politicians are to create a new volunteer force, it has to be trained, uniformed and have legal power, otherwise it will be just a public relations stunt. Graeme Campbell, Glenrothes, Fife