Border checks relaxed in second rule change
11.11.11
Thousands of people have entered Britain without facing routine passport checks on arrival in a second change in border rules approved by Theresa May, the Telegraph reports. Since last year, the UK Border Agency has been operating a system at four major UK airports that means passengers on some flights are security-screened before take-off and then face a ‘light touch’ inspection on arrival.
The ‘smart zone’ trial came to light at a time when the Home Secretary faces continued criticism over a separate move to relax passport checks at all airports over the summer in order to cut queues. It allows passengers on selected flights to enter the UK with reduced passport checks and pass through the airport in half the time normally taken and is part of a wider move towards ‘risk-based’ controls that ministers believe can focus border resources on suspicious travellers.
The newspaper suggests that schemes like smart zone are paving the way for a full-blown profiling system, where passengers are subjected to different levels of scrutiny depending on nationality, race or where they have flown from. It relies on pre-screening of passengers on ‘low-risk’ routes into the UK and effectively does away with routine passport inspection on arrival. Trials have taken place at Luton, Gatwick, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford airports. Further tests are planned for Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester.
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