Friday 11 September 2009

Another One From The ‘No S**t, Sherlock!’ Files…

…this being the news that failing to vet people with visas from Pakistan might be a wee bit of a security problem:
Ministers were last night accused of a major security lapse after it emerged that British immigration officers based in Pakistan had interviewed just 29 of the 66,000 people applying for British visas in nine months.
I guess they were all far too busy ensuring young married Canadians had all the right paperwork…
The shockingly small number of checks carried out between October and June this year led to claims last night that visas may have been issued to terror suspects and illegal immigrants trying to cheat the system.
‘May’…?
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is a quite extraordinary situation. There are very real concerns that the system is being abused by people who have no right to come to the UK. And more importantly there are clear security issues, too. Yet it's clear that the checks in our immigration system are wholly inadequate."
It’s clear that our entire immigration system is wholly inadequate, and has been for quite some time now.

That’s why the Labour government is getting a spanking in the polls from all kinds of parties…
In a written answer to a parliamentary question by the Conservatives, the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, also admitted that no telephone interviews had been conducted with visa applicants by staff in Pakistan or Abu Dhabi, where final checks are made, between 27 October 2008, when a new visa system came into force, and the end of May.
You’d think the months directly after implementing a new visa system would be the most critical, wouldn’t you?

Well, not if you are in the Immigration Service, it seems…

2 comments:

Sue said...

Labour don´t care. The illegals are their future voters. They´re lax on purpose. Over 90% of visa applications (not student) are for arranged marriages in Pakistan too. The figures are gobsmacking.

We have far too many people chasing far too few jobs as it is. Our infrastructure (education, health, housing...) is buckling under the strain..

We need to sort out our economy before inviting any non EU citizens. Surely the EU has enough qualified people to fill jobs for required skills.

The student visa system is a pure joke. I would stop those for the duration too.. if the "students" are absconding, the educational facilities are not getting their fees anyhow.

JuliaM said...

"We have far too many people chasing far too few jobs as it is."

Indeed. Particularly when their latest bright scheme to 'eliminate child poverty' is to ensure both parents work.

'At what' doesn't seem to be a question they've bothered to ask themselves. But the sort of low-paid jobs parents like these will be chasing are exactly the ones currently being filled by immigrants.