20 February 2024 , 18:01
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The UK's top immigration inspector has been sacked after claiming "high risk" flights are landing in the UK with no security checks.
Ministers reacted with fury after David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, branded it a "scandal". The Government said it "categorically rejects" the claims, but Labour has branded it "total Tory chaos" on borders.
In a statement the Home Office 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, who was appointed in 2021 but was already due to leave next month after the Government blocked his reappointment, had called for a probe into whether checks were being carried out on private jets arriving in the UK. He told the Daily Mail: "This is a scandal, and incredibly dangerous for this country's border security. There should now be a rapid independent inspection of general aviation across the country."
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He told the newspaper that just 21% of "high risk" flights arriving at City Airport in London were checked by Border Force officers. This mean that passengers on more than 540 flights last year did not have their passport inspections.
Legal migration minister Tom Pursglove, facing questions about the allegations by Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, told the Commons: "When it comes to the questions that she raises around these flights at London City airport and the information that has been put in the public domain, the Home Office categorically rejects these claims by David Neal."
He went on: "It's deeply disturbing that information which has no basis in fact was leaked by the independent chief inspector to a national newspaper before the Home Office had the chance to respond. We are urgently investigating this breach of confidential information in full in the normal way."
He said a report by Mr Neal was submitted to the Home Office last week, but claimed the issue was around data recording. Mr Neal is understood to have submitted 15 reports on various issues around border security, none of which have been published.
Speaking to The Times at the weekend, he also claimed the Home Office had issued 275 visas for people who said they were working at a care home that didn't exist. He went on to say that a quarter of foreign care workers were working illegally in other industries.
Ms 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."