Exec Jet? No passport check! David Neal, Home Office sacked Chief Inspector of Borders & Immigration

Ex-borders watchdog blasts the Home Office as 'dysfunctional' following his dismissal after he revealed security farce

David Neal said the Home Office was 'dysfunctional' and in need of 'reform'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13181053/Ex-borders-watchdog-blasts-Home-Office.html

11 March 2024

https://politicsthisweek.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/not-the-bcfm-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-181/

The Home Office has been blasted as 'dysfunctional' by the ex-borders watchdog.

David Neal, the former independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, said the department was in need of widespread reform.

Mr Neal was dismissed on the orders of Home Secretary James Cleverly last month after revealing a major new border security farce in the Daily Mail.

He disclosed how the UK Border Force had failed to inspect hundreds of private jets which landed at London City Airport last year despite being assessed as 'high-risk'.

'The Home Office is dysfunctional, the Home Office needs reform,' Mr Neal told the BBC's Today Podcast.

Mr Neal, the former head of the Royal Military Police, expressed fears the watchdog role would remain unfilled for months while a successor is appointed.

'There will be no scrutiny of small boats, there will be no scrutiny of adults at risk in detention which is a controversial area, there will be no publishing of the Rwanda material,' he said.

'Much of the debate is dominated by asylum, but actually the protection of our borders is a 24/7 activity, that affects every person in this country and that's why it's so critical.'

Thirteen of Mr Neal's reports exposing a series of blunders in the borders and immigration system were belatedly published two weeks ago, on the same day as the findings of the inquiry into Sarah Everard's murder by a serving police officer.

The former chief inspector said that despite losing his job he had been 'absolutely vindicated', adding: 'I've done the right thing, my conscience is absolutely clear.'