Home Office SACKS borders inspector after he voiced concerns about hundreds of 'high-risk' aircraft landing in Britain without security checks

The Home Office tonight sacked the independent borders inspector after he voiced concerns about 'high-risk' aircraft landing in Britain without security checks.

David Neal will immediately leave his role as the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration after being fired by Home Secretary James Cleverly.

It comes after Mr Neal shared his fears about a 'scandal' of unchecked private jet flights at UK airports.

This may have seen gangsters, illegal immigrants, trafficking victims and even extremists enter the country without even rudimentary scrutiny, he warned.

Mr Neal, who spoke to the Daily Mail about his worries, revealed he had decided to go public because of the 'massive public interest'.

But his whistleblowing has now cost him his job after he lost the confidence of Mr Cleverly.

Labour this evening accused the Government of having 'lost control of our borders' and claimed ministers were 'seeking to hide the truth'.

They also demanded the Home Office release 15 unpublished reports by Mr Neal, stretching back to April last year.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Tories had 'lost control of our borders'

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We have terminated the appointment of David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, after he breached the terms of appointment and lost the confidence of the Home Secretary.

'The planned recruitment process for the next Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration is in progress.'

Mr Neal had already been due to leave his role on 21 March but has now left with immediate effect.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'This is total Tory chaos on borders and immigration.

'A series of Conservative home secretaries have sought to bury uncomfortable truths revealed by the chief inspector about our broken borders, and shockingly they are still sitting on 15 unpublished reports - stretching back to April last year.

'The Home Secretary must now publish those reports in full.

'The Conservatives have lost control of our borders, are seeking to hide the truth, and are putting border security at risk.'

Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael, the party's home affairs spokesperson, said: 'This is a desperate move from a Conservative Government terrified of proper scrutiny of their record of failure on borders and immigration.

'Conservative ministers must publish these reports without delay.

'From the failed Rwanda scheme to the broken asylum system, it's no surprise this Government is trying to cover up their failures.'

Mr Neal warned of 'dangerous' failings at a prominent London airport which potentially allowed thousands of passengers to evade passport controls.

Home Office data provided to him showed the UK Border Force failed to check the occupants of hundreds of private jets arriving at just one airport last year.

The debacle meant gangsters, illegal immigrants, trafficking victims and even extremists may have entered the UK without even rudimentary scrutiny.

Mr Neal voiced concerns the problem may be duplicated at other airports which handle private and chartered aircraft.

Passengers aboard such flights, known as 'general aviation', who are not met by Border Force, are allowed to leave the airport with no further checks.

Border Force officers are supposed to check 100 per cent of general aviation flights which they have classified as 'high-risk'.

But last year, just 21 per cent were inspected by immigration officers at London City airport, Mr Neal told the Mail.

It handled 1,305 general aviation flights in all last year, with 687 categorised as high-risk, he said.

Only 144 of those were checked by Border Force, and 543 – about ten a week – underwent no passport inspections at all, according to figures provided to him by Border Force last month.

The remainder of general aviation flights are classified as 'low-risk' with 30 per cent supposed to be checked, according to guidelines.

But last year just 9.7 per cent of those into London City, in the east of the capital, were inspected by officers, the watchdog found during a routine inspection.

The problems were uncovered at a spot inspection at London City by Mr Neal's team just over two weeks ago.

His completed report was sent to the Home Secretary last week.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13105461/Home-Office-SACKS-borders-inspector-voiced-concerns-hundreds-high-risk-aircraft-landing-Britain-without-security-checks.html

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