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Heathrow Queues: Immigration Minister To Be Quizzed Over Airport Chaos

PA  |  Posted: 27/04/2012 21:24 Updated: 27/04/2012 21:35   PA

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Heathrow

Immigration Minister Damian Green is to be grilled by MPs about chronic queues at Heathrow Airport amid concern that the issue is doing "huge damage" to Britain's reputation.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, announced the move after reports of lengthy delays to get past passport control again last night.

There are fears that the problems are tarnishing the UK's image, particularly with the London Olympics only three months away.

Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street communications chief who was caught up in last night's queues, tweeted: "If this is what Heathrow T5 border queue is like on an average Thursday, Olympic athletes should think about coming soon."

Mr Vaz told London's Evening Standard newspaper that the issue was of "great concern" and needed to be addressed irrespective of the Olympics.

"Huge damage is done to our country's reputation," he said.

"The Government has a choice either to increase the number of staff at the airports or to restart the suspension of the checks.
"This needs to be done irrespective of the Olympics. This is not an Olympics issue.

"It is about ensuring that Heathrow is a world-class airport every day of the year."

A Border Force spokesman said: "We will not compromise border security but we always aim to keep disruption to a minimum by using our staff flexibly to meet demand."

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Immigration Minister Damian Green is to be grilled by MPs about chronic queues at Heathrow Airport amid concern that the issue is doing "huge damage" to Britain's reputation. Keith Vaz, chairman of...
Immigration Minister Damian Green is to be grilled by MPs about chronic queues at Heathrow Airport amid concern that the issue is doing "huge damage" to Britain's reputation. Keith Vaz, chairman of...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Daviejohn
All the world's a stage,
79 Fans
 
03:54 PM on 04/28/2012
There's the rub, relax security and give undesirables an opportunity to enter unchecked, or remain vigilant and inconvenience the majority. America is used to queues of this nature at major Airports. Providing we place as many officers as we can muster at the sharp end then people will accept the wait, certain travellers from certain destinations require more scrutiny than others. However just ignore the problem and the public wrath will be spectacular.
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Luuke
354 Fans
12:42 PM on 04/28/2012
If you aren't flyin specifically to the UK then its wise to avoid LHR altogether...This is one of the cr@ppiest airports in the world....The do not have any regard for your time.....and the kicker here is last time I was at a resort destination called Goa and at the Airport there the ones making the loudest noises for any delays were the Brits until one of the customs officials said that it was a bit rich that Brits were the loudest due to delays.....
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ajusticiar
22 Fans
11:49 AM on 04/28/2012
Facts need to be faced.

1. Comparatively few "illegals" enter the country through Heathrow.

2. Checks are made before passengers board planes to fly to the UK and information is passed before arrival here.

3. There are some flights that are more likely to be carrying passengers with false passports than others.

There was a perfectly sensible experiment taking place which involved targeting which was abolished over the outcry, whipped up by the Home Secretary and the media when Brodie Clark was suspended.

Some countries have far better checks than even we do before passengers board planes. For example do the passengers on flights from Washington or Grand Cayman require the same degree of scrutiny as those on flights from Addis Abiba or Kinshasa?

It is time that politicians allowed professionals to make informed decisions rather than reacting to every story in the Daily Mail etc.
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robbiann
1 Fans
11:15 AM on 04/28/2012
THe last estimate by the Labour administration was that there were 1 million illegal immigrants. I suspect that is a conservative estimate. It is SO easy to get into this country fraudulently, that EVERY should be made to stop illegal entry. There are "established colleges" giving away visa sponsorship for a fee today.
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Dave747
0 Fans
10:22 AM on 04/28/2012
"using our staff flexibly" now theres a statement straight from an mp if ever i heard one what it means is we are critically understaffed and making do with what we have
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Sheilacorr
0 Fans
07:03 PM on 04/28/2012
My son is an immigration officer at the Channel Ports.. For more than 2 years he has been constanly offered the possibility of redundancy in order to cut overall staff levels. So many people volunteered for redundancy the Management eventually had to cap the numbers Also he and all others are on 'annualised' contracts, which means he can be called in at almost any time in the busy summer months , as a result of which he spent most of Feb & March at home because he had used up all his hours. Virtually no overtime is allowed !!. So, right now, I believe Heathrow are deliberately operating at below par numbers of staff in order to 'save' the hours so there are plenty of immigration officers around to cover the Olympics. This is what is meant by flexible deployment !!
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stjohnt6
10 Fans
10:01 AM on 04/28/2012
i would rather have long queues and tight security than the alternative which could have unthinkable consequences.
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ronstarcon
27 Fans
10:26 AM on 04/28/2012
wrong way to think,,,,why not have more staff and more checks and shorter queues , this will stop many illegals coming and the salaries can be paid from the saving made by them not being here scrounging-simple !!
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katertaif
My wife thinks I have one fault. Everything I do!
530 Fans
12:35 PM on 04/28/2012
I agree with what you say in the matter of staffing levels, but as for the rest, we have to put up with it, just as we have to when we go to other countries. They have in some cases much longer queues, and in some cases far less polite staff. While there is the danger of terrorism, and illegl entry, we have to have the queues. never mind Keith Vaz, he just wants to score political points.
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katertaif
My wife thinks I have one fault. Everything I do!
530 Fans
12:32 PM on 04/28/2012
Exactly, f and f. Other countries have far longer queues, Some airports in th eUSA, and all of them in Saudi Arabia spring to mind. No one worries about it,and complaints fall on deaf ears. Granted we have too few staff Thanks to our coalition government, but I would rather put up with some inconvenience that be at risk from terrorists. If nationals from other countries find the delays irksome, they only have to think of the arrivals halls in their own countries. If the government would stop cutting at everything in sight so as to afford more foreign aid, and loans to the IMF, loans in the most elastic sense of the word, we could have more staff which would shorten the queues; otherwise they have to put up with it, just as we do when we go there.
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jean girardo
16 Fans
04:02 PM on 04/28/2012
Heathrow is the worst airport in the world. I know because I have flown to most of them. It is not only terrible getting in and out, but it is like a mausoleum. Getting from an airline flying in from the US and transferring to a flight to Scotland is a disaster. It is an absolutely horrible airport and everyone that I know feels the same way. If the country does not get its act together before the Olympics, they will be the laughing stock of the world. Currently, only persons who travel extensively understand the comparisons, but this will be known by the world by summer's end.
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RamblerBill
33 Fans
08:52 AM on 04/28/2012
.. and all this because some ex-government official tweeted that he had to do what the rest of us plebs have to do all the time - queue.
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jfoste3
48 Fans
08:49 AM on 04/28/2012
Disgrace, the public due to cost cutting are made to queue not only at passport control, but at Airlines ticket counter, also many are made to stand on trains since the fat cats employed by the train companies reduce the number of carriage. I and my family on a departure to the US reported to the Airport three hours before departure, we queued at a ticket counter for one hour, then at another counter to pay for excess baggage, finally at security check due to cut in staff close to one hour, by the time we got to the gate we missed our flight. British Airways refused to admit it was their fault and I was made to purchase another ticket, it was paid by credit card under protest, when I returned home I began legal action and recovered my cost in full.
Joseph Foster, Author ‘’Seeing Red’’ ‘How America is losing the future’ Available at: http://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Red-Joseph-Foster/dp/1613468121/ my blog Stand Up For America! – Seeing Red; http://boblupoli.blogspot.com/
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Joe Joe P
39 Fans
08:42 AM on 04/28/2012
Well the answer to that is to become green and don't go on a plane. At the end of the day going abroad for a holiday, is it really a holiday? The stress of the cost, getting to an airport, the stress of delays, finding your accommodation did not stack up to the brochure, the stress of more delays coming back and for what? A bit of sunshine? And even then some of those deals cannot guarantee sunshine! LOL!
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staridler
30 Fans
09:39 AM on 04/28/2012
yah i got totally fed up with flying a few years ago > we are treated like mugs and as you say for what ? imho there is no real need to travel all over the place better to enter the doorway deeply than open many doors
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ronstarcon
27 Fans
10:28 AM on 04/28/2012
with your thinking we can shut all the airports no need for passports and put 1000's more out of work all for a bit of the green rubbish and yes drive down to cornwall buring more fuel, get real !!
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meddleman
57 Fans
08:34 AM on 04/28/2012
Is this anything to do with Theresa May? Oh, that it explains it then.
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coady12
38 Fans
08:28 AM on 04/28/2012
you only have yourselves to blame
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medlar
14 Fans
04:09 AM on 04/28/2012
It's not as though planes are arriving unexpectedly at Heathrow, now is it?
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wixies
42 Fans
07:22 AM on 04/28/2012
Correct, but that is where the illegals get by. They can get to the loo before passport control, dump their docs in the toilet and then stay for ever. Fact from Stansted. Happens daily.
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Ctommocasa
1 Fans
12:37 AM on 04/28/2012
""(quote)concern that the issue is doing "huge damage" to Britain's reputation.""

Wait, what reputation? only reputation we have is a decent bag of fish and chips, and maybe the odd pastry
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welshtaff
22 Fans
06:58 AM on 04/28/2012
don't forget the reputation we have of it harder for Brits to get back through UKBA than it is for imigrants
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paphos44
63 Fans
07:47 AM on 04/28/2012
Absolutely bang on. I am a british citizen and two years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. My wife who is a Filipino was due to renew her UK visa but because it was at a time I was having surgery, we thought there was exceptional circumstances but how wrong I was. Even though we had just had a little girl 2 months earlier, and the fact that I had just come out of hospital the month before, the old B----t-----d of an obnoxious Judge sitting at the Immigration tribunal decided we should all travel all the way back to the Philippines to renew her visa and he refused to excercise his discresion and grant it to her in the UK. She has never had a penny from the state because I have worked hard enough in the past to keep us all so she was no burden to the UK whatsoever. Not only was it stressful and most uncomfortable to fly all that way for me who has also had hip replacements, but the cost to fly there and stay 7 weeks waiting for a visa "cost £7500". That episode proved you are treated better as an illegal off the back of a lorry than if u go through all the correct chanels as we had done. Is there any wonder our people feel betrayed by a system that rewards the criminals and not those who go down the honest path.
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Ctommocasa
1 Fans
04:53 PM on 04/29/2012
Ah true, friend of mine was held in customs for 7 and a half hours at heathrow for allegedly entering the UK illegally after coming back from Kansas after a 2month holiday, regardless to being a British citizen and having a UK passport.
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broadside
23 Fans
12:17 AM on 04/28/2012
There wont be a problem when the Olympics start. The only people stopped will be white, all the rest will be waved through. The last time I arrived at T5, there were only 4 desks open. These were operated by one Chinese female, two Asian males, and an Indian male complete with turban. Welcome to Britain.
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osmundbullock
20 Fans
05:22 AM on 04/28/2012
If you're going to go into knee-jerk racist mode, could you try and do it with a bit more logic? China and India were also both in Asia last time I looked, so your categories are a bit silly.

You might also like to reflect on the likely reason that the staff were of Asian ethnic origin (though very probably born in Britain, not that you'd care): which is that statistically a higher proportion of Britons of Asian - and notably Chinese & Sikh - origin take education seriously than those of white or Afro-West Indian origin. Their children are more likely to work hard and have high educational achievement. This means they are more employable in jobs that require high literacy and complex brain use. The chances are that without these people that you so despise and blame for everything, there would be even fewer immigration officers on duty than there are now.
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PhilEssex
Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarves are not happy.
69 Fans
 
12:02 AM on 04/28/2012
Just think what it will be like when the Olympics begin a total nightmare and it will make this Goverment with all it's cut backs, look even more stupid than they already are (if that's possible).
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