UKIP Leader Calls on Amber Rudd to resign over Home Office losing track of over 600,000 foreign visitors
Published Mar 29, 2018
The Home Office has revealed that it has lost track of over 600,000 foreign visitors to the UK; the same amount as the population of Belfast. UKIP Leader Gerard Batten is furious and calling on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to stand down over the debacle.
The Conservative Government has spent £800 million on a borders system designed to log every entry into and departure from the country. However, the immigration watchdog has revealed gigantic failures in the system.
David Bolt, the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, found that the exit check system was so unreliable that there were no departure records for more than 500,000 non-visa travellers including those from the US, Australia, Argentina, and Brazil. Also, 88,000 non-EU citizens, whose visas typically last six months had disappeared. This is equivalent to around one in 20 people whose leave to be in the UK expired between 2015 and 2017.
UKIP Leader Gerard Batten commented on the report:
“The revelation that the Home Office has lost track of over 600,000 foreign visitors; enough people to fill the city of Belfast, is scandalous. £800 million of taxpayers’ money has been wasted on what is an utterly useless system.
“Successive British Governments have proved that they are either completely incompetent or really don’t care how many people stay illegally in the UK. Which is it?
“Mrs. May was totally useless as Home Secretary and the current Home Secretary Amber Rudd is following in her footsteps. She should do the decent thing and resign as Home Secretary so that someone else can sort out this scandalous mess.”
