11 March 2024 , 08:33
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The man recently sacked as the UK's top immigration inspector has branded the Home Office as "dysfunctional" and in urgent need of reform.
Watchdog David Neal was removed after he warned that "high risk" private jet flights were landing in the UK without proper checks. Mr Neal, who was appointed in 2021 but was already due to leave 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.
But he was dramatically fired as the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI) in February after losing the confidence of Home Secretary James Cleverly. In an interview with the BBC's Today podcast, Mr Neal said he had "paid the price" for speaking out about his concerns on border security but "my conscience is absolutely clear".
Mr Neal said: "The Home Office is dysfunctional. The Home Office needs reform. The Prime Minister, when he was running for leader of the party, one of his 10 points was fundamental reform of Border Force.
"I've been sacked. So there'll be no scrutiny of small boats, there'll be no scrutiny of adults at risk in immigration detention, which is a controversial area. There will be no publishing of the Rwanda material."
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Mr Neal, a former head of the Royal Military Police, had previously accused the Home Office of sitting on tranche of his reports on issues relating to borders and security. After he was sacked, the department rushed out 13 of his reports on the same day. The move attracted criticism it was trying to slip them out on the same day as damning findings from an inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat told the Today programme: "He leaked sensitive information and as a former Royal Military Police officer, he won't need telling that, I'm afraid, is a sackable offence. And he was not only sacked for that but he was sacked because the information he was releasing was inaccurate and he was told it was inaccurate."
He insisted that an advert had to hire his replacement had been already gone live.
A Home Office spokesman said: "It is the job of the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration to identify challenges in our system, including those proposed by Border Force, so we can take action to address them. But by their nature, each of the ICIBI reports will only be a snapshot of what is going on and will not reflect the changes we make as a result of their findings.
"A programme of work is already well under way to reform and strengthen Border Force's capabilities. This is delivering on the Prime Minister's pledge to make our structures and resources as strong as possible. The work the Home Office, Border Force and the NCA is doing with international partners to stop the boats is another part of our Border Force reform, and is already having a return with small boat arrivals down by a third when Mr Neal was sacked for leaking sensitive information he was told was inaccurate."