The Government is hiding “damaging cuts” to the UK’s border policing agency, Labour has said.
Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said employees of Border Force had been told to expect cuts by 6 per cent in this financial year and the next.
He cited “whistle-blowers” in the agency who he said had brought the problem to his attention.
In a letter to the Home Secretary Theresa May Mr Burnham said cutting border controls in the aftermath of the Brussels terrorist attacks would be “a very serious mistake”.
He also accused the Government of hiding the planned budget cuts – arguing it was “highly unusual” for ministers to have not released the agency’s Budget near the start of the new financial year.
“This is the worst possible time to be cutting UK border security. I believe that, in her heart of hearts, Theresa May knows that and that is why she is going to great lengths to hide these cuts,” he wrote.
“This is not good enough. The public has a right to know about the government’s plans for the UK border and that is why I call on them to publish these figures without delay and to drop these damaging cuts.”
Border Force is under the direct control of Home Office ministers and in charge of border checks at ports, airports, and international railway stations.
It was created in 2012 by Ms May out of the old UK Border Agency, which has since been abolished.
A Home Office spokesman said the Government would “take all the necessary measures” to maintain border security and that the Chancellor’s Budget has promised extra money for the agency.
