UK Border Force

Graham Stringer Excerpts

Monday 7th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The matter related to the operation of border security controls, which is a matter for the Home Office.

[Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)]

I am appalled that the Home Secretary set up a pilot at Manchester airport and did not know she had done so. That is extraordinary. Will she now answer without any ambiguity the question that has been asked four or five times: did information come from those pilot schemes into her or any other Minister’s office in the Home Office—yes or no?

[Mrs May]

As I have made clear, an evaluation of the pilot was going to take place at the end of the study, so that we could look at how it was operating and whether it was doing what it was expected to do. As I said in my statement, a decision was taken in the middle of September to extend the pilot until November in order to ensure that there was a fuller period of time to make the evaluation.