Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how border security can be ensured without the use of paper-based international travel cards.

The UK operates a secure border. All passengers arriving on scheduled services from outside of the Common Travel Area must satisfactorily establish their identity and nationality to allow a decision to be taken on their eligibility for entry to the UK. Travel documents and ID cards are currently the internationally accepted means for doing this. Documents which also contain a biometric chip are regarded as more secure than paper-based documents alone as the chip allows a more accurate reconciliation of the individual to the document. There are no current plans to operate our border controls without the use of a document or card.