Henry Smith
Main Page: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)Department Debates - View all Henry Smith's debates with the Home Office
(8 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe hon. Gentleman may know that I have had my own interactions with the European convention on human rights, when the European Court of Human Rights has been used to try to prevent me from deporting people from the United Kingdom. In certain key cases, we were able to ensure the deportation or extradition of individuals who we believed were a danger here in the UK. The operation of the European Court of Human Rights and the European convention on human rights should indeed be looked at, which is why the Government are looking at introducing our own Human Rights Act and possibly a Bill of Rights, which will interact with the ECHR.
An important section of the UK border exists in my constituency at Gatwick airport. I seek my right hon. Friend’s assurances that Border Force has been strengthened at that location, particularly given that it accepts so many flights from the vast Schengen area. We need to ensure that terrorists who might have made it into Europe cannot then make it into the British Isles.
Yes. Border Force has looked across airports and sea ports to see where it needs to enhance the checks that it provides. It is very conscious of the fact that the coming weekend is a particularly busy one for Gatwick at the start of a holiday period. It will take action accordingly.