Home Office fires chief inspector of borders and immigration

The Home Office has fired the chief inspector of borders and immigration after he “lost the confidence” of the home secretary.

David Neal claimed passengers coming to City Airport were not being checked by UK Border Force – something the Home Office has denied. Pic: PA

The department said it had “terminated the appointment” of David Neal on the grounds he had “breached” the terms of his appointment.

Mr Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, became embroiled in a row with the Home Office after he provided data to the Daily Mail on Monday which purported to show UK Border Force failed to check passengers on hundreds of private jets arriving at City Airport.

Mr Neal said the alleged lack of checks meant criminals, illegal immigrants, trafficking victims and extremists may have entered the UK without undergoing scrutiny by the authorities.

The government has strongly refuted the allegations, with immigration minister Tom Pursglove telling MPs yesterday that the Home Office “categorically rejects these claims by David Neal”.

Mr Pursglove said Border Force performed “checks on 100% of scheduled passengers arriving in the UK and risk-based intelligence-led checks on general aviation”.

He said it was “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 added.

In his interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Neal said the lapse was a “scandal” and “incredibly dangerous for this country’s border security” as he called for a “rapid independent inspection of general aviation across the country”.

He told the newspaper that Border Force officers are supposed to check 100%of general aviation flights which they have classified as “high-risk”, but that last year, just 21% were inspected by immigration officers at London City airport.

Mr Neal’s tenure was due to end on 21 March but the Home Office said it had informed Mr Neal that his time in post was being immediately terminated on Tuesday following his disclosure to the Mail.

A Home Office spokesman said in a statement: “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.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Mr Neal’s sacking was ” total Tory chaos on borders and immigration”.

She said there were still 15 unpublished reports that the Home Office was “sitting on”

“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,” she said.

“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.”