Home Secretary visits Britain’s busiest airport
Border controls will need to be stronger than ever to meet government aims, says Theresa May.
She visited Heathrow airport today, seeing first-hand the anti-forgery equipment, drug detection scanners and border control checks used to keep the borders secure.
During a tour of Terminal 5, she also met frontline officers from the UK Border Agency, and was given a demonstration of the work of detection dogs, and forgery detection equipment. She watched as officers used the latest technology to search bags for smuggled contraband.
While there, she was briefed by the Operation Paladin Unit, a joint UK Border Agency and Metropolitan Police team working to identify child trafficking victims.
Vigilant border staff
The Home Secretary said, ‘Keeping Britain’s border secure is a priority for this government - which is why it is crucial that we have vigilant border staff utilising the latest technology in our fight against the people traffickers, drug smugglers and illegal immigrants determined to come here and cause harm.’
She said border controls will need to be stronger than ever to help meet the government’s aims.
‘We’re committed to introducing a limit on the number of non-EEA migrants who come here to work, contributing to a reduction in net migration back to the levels of the early 1990s - tens of thousands not hundreds of thousands,’ she said.