{"id":509491,"date":"2025-10-18T13:19:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T13:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/509491\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T13:19:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T13:19:24","slug":"borders-chief-cant-name-a-way-brexit-has-helped-uk-control-its-borders-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/509491\/","title":{"rendered":"Borders chief can\u2019t name a way Brexit has helped UK control its borders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s borders<\/a> chief was unable to answer when asked by MPs to name any way in which Brexit<\/a> has helped \u201ccontrol our borders\u201d. <\/a><\/p>\n

Martin Hewitt<\/a>, the new border security commander, said he did \u201cnot immediately\u201d have an answer to the question.<\/p>\n

The pro-Brexit campaign promised that the UK could \u201ctake back control\u201d of its borders<\/a>, but since then the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats has not decreased.<\/p>\n

As the number of crossings hit a record high last month, <\/a>US president Donald Trump even advised Sir Keir Starmer to \u201ccall out the military\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Border<\/p>\n

Border security commander Martin Hewitt rejected the idea it was a \u2018fool\u2019s errand\u2019 to go after smuggling gangs (PA)<\/p>\n

Mr Hewitt, who has been in post for a year, told MPs on the Commons home affairs committee<\/a> that the number of arrivals on dangerous small boats was \u201cfrustrating\u201d and \u201creally challenging\u201d.<\/p>\n

More than 36,000 people have made the perilous journey so far this year, around a third higher than at the same point in 2024.<\/p>\n

Asked if there were any examples where Brexit<\/a> has helped the UK \u201ccontrol our borders<\/a>, helped you do your job, or helped us reduce the issue of undocumented migrants\u201d, both he and Rob Jones, director general of the National Crime Agency, who was also giving evidence to the committee, were stumped.<\/p>\n

After a long pause, Mr Hewitt told MPs: \u201cCertainly not immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to tell the committee, \u201cI will ponder on that\u201d, and said he would write to them with any answer.<\/p>\n

Paul Kohler, the Lib Dem MP who asked the question, told Mr Hewitt he was \u201cnot surprised\u201d by his answer.<\/p>\n

Mr Hewitt did tell MPs, however, that he saw the potential in the government\u2019s proposed digital ID cards, which it wants to use to tackle illegal working and deter migrants from coming to the UK.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThere is no doubt that having an ability to make it significantly harder for somebody to work illegally is absolutely key. But the concept of a digital ID that makes it even harder for somebody to be in a position to try and work, I think, potentially has an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be really important, and I know that there is a consultation process that\u2019s going to work through how that could work and add value to the work that we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: \u201cAs the border security commander made clear himself, Brexit\u2019s list of helpful achievements is precisely zero items long. We doubt this will be the last time Farage and Reform are proved wrong. It\u2019s time the public knew about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Hewitt was appointed as the UK\u2019s first border security commander last September, as part of a shake-up when the new Labour government came to power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK\u2019s borders chief was unable to answer when asked by MPs to name any way in which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[166708,768,802,748,166710,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,166707,16,166709,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-509491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-border-security-commander","9":"tag-borders","10":"tag-brexit","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-crossing-the-channel","13":"tag-eu","14":"tag-europe","15":"tag-european","16":"tag-european-union","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-martin-hewitt","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-undocumented-migrants","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115395374623197117","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}