Home Secretary Theresa May has been accused of a “cover-up” after she used legal powers to keep parts of a critical inspection into UK border controls secret.
A total of 15 sections of the report into controls between France and the UK have been redacted including part of a passage revealing staff and managers fear resources in Calais are stretched for national security reasons.
Politicians and campaigners have accused Mrs May of hiding “her own failings” exposed in the report by chief inspector of borders and immigration John Vine.
Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant said: “Yet again the Government refuses to be straight with the British people about immigration and our borders.
“This cover-up and the failure at our borders provide yet more dents in this Government’s much-tarnished credibility.
“What possible reason can there be for redacting elements of a report by a highly-respected independent inspector? This is a cover-up to hide her own failings.”
In a partly redacted section of the report, Mr Vine reveals that border staff remain concerned about the so-called Lille Loophole, which effectively exempts some passengers who travel to Britain via Lille in on Eurostar trains boarded in Brussels from UK Border Force immigration checks.
Home affairs select committee chairman Keith Vaz said: “I am concerned that the home secretary has decided to redact part of the findings related to the ‘Lille Loophole’, despite John Vine finding that some were still able to reach Britain using this method. The committee has been assured in the past that the loophole would be closed. The withholding of information prevents us from properly holding the Border Force to account.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “In accordance with the UK Borders Act 2007 the home secretary, in consultation with the independent chief inspector, is required to redact any material which, if published, would be prejudicial to the interests of national security.
“These take the form of visible redactions in the report laid before parliament.”