UK Airports: British Passport Holders

Question

14:50:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that UK airports have dedicated lines for British passport holders.

The Home Office has previously reviewed the potential for the introduction of UK-only queues, most recently during the period when the UK left the EU. Analysis conducted has found that it would have a negative impact on border fluidity. However, we keep our border systems under review.

I thank the Minister for that. It might be helpful if we could all see how that assessment was done; perhaps that could be put into the Library. I wonder if he agrees that it is not really about length of queues and waiting times; it is a principle about people coming back into their own country, just as happens all over world. Will he look again at this? UK citizens coming in should be given their own British entry point, unlike what is happening at the moment.

As I said to the noble Baroness, it would lead to longer queues. Perhaps that is symptomatic of the impact of Brexit as a whole. The noble Baroness needs to recognise that British and Irish citizens, citizens of the Commonwealth and citizens of reciprocal countries can use border gates and border entry accordingly. In doing so, they are helping to reduce queues. If we had a British-only queue, we would have longer queues for British citizens. That is not what I want to see.

My Lords, as the Minister has said, the converse of the proposal is that other lines would get longer. Does he agree that growth for this country requires us to be welcoming to both businesspeople and tourists? Is it not about capacity and organisation?

One of the Government’s key objectives is growth. We will look again with European nations and others at how we can ensure that Britain remains a welcoming place to individuals to come and do business and tourism. Some 55% of the people who come through any of the points of entry into the United Kingdom are UK citizens. The proposal from the noble Baroness would mean that that 55% had a longer queue if there were specifically British-only lines.

My Lords, since the noble Baroness who raised this Question was one of the principal advocates of Brexit, does the Minister not agree that she has got a bit of a brass neck raising this Question? She is appropriately wearing the right jewellery to show it.

Oh!

I know that my noble friend will reflect on his comments and understand that the politics that may divide us do not go down to what individuals wear in the Chamber. I hope that he can accept that. The noble Baroness took a principled stand on Brexit. It is a stand that I disagreed with. I voted and campaigned for remain, but she took that stand and won. There are consequences to that Brexit agreement that the Government are currently looking at. There are issues to do with how we can reset the relationship nine years after the referendum on things such as security and on the issues mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, around growth, but there are still fundamentals of that Brexit settlement that we have to maintain and that is what the Government will try to do to ensure that we get the best for Britain, as we have always done. The differences between the noble Baroness and me are stark, but I hope we can deal with them in a civilised manner.

My Lords, leading on from the Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, can the Government confirm that they will seek to renegotiate arrangements with EU airports to ensure reciprocal fast-track access for UK citizens similar to that provided for EU travellers? Can the Minister outline what investment is being made in staffing and technology at UK Border Force to reduce waiting times for British citizens at peak travel periods?

The answer to the noble Lord is yes. We will continue to look at how we can get reciprocal arrangements with our European partner nations. We do that on an individual basis, and it is a matter for each nation as to whether it wishes to have that reciprocal arrangement. We will continue to work to achieve that in the interests of co-operation. This Government are investing significant amounts of resource in border security, and that includes access gates and other things at airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick and around the country. That resource being invested in extra border security is money that we have saved from the wasteful Rwanda scheme that the noble Lord supported. We are going to put that resource into protecting our borders. I will certainly come back to him in due course with specific numbers and amounts of investment in respect of the particular issues that he has raised.

My Lords, the noble Baroness asked about people coming into this country. We are one of the few countries that do not have exit checks; in most other countries, you scan your passport when you leave the country as well. Would that not be a good idea from a security point of view in having control over our borders and immigration and, for example, students coming in and out? It would help us to be on top of the figures.

That is an extremely sensible suggestion and one that I advocated 15 years ago when we were in government in 2009-10 and looking at that issue. I see my noble friend Lord West nodding; he was in the Home Office with me at that time. It is important that we know who comes in and goes out. One of our current migration challenges is people overstaying, so a main focus for the Government is how we can reduce that impact and make sure that people are in the UK legally at all times.

My Lords, can my noble friend comment on the proposed new arrangements governing travel between the UK and the EU? Can he say a bit more about when those arrangements will come into force? Are we ready to meet the bureaucratic and other difficulties that will follow from introducing them?

The European Union, as is its right, is introducing an ETA for non-European Union members. One of the consequences of Brexit is that we are a non-EU member, so citizens of the United Kingdom will have to face that challenge in due course. As of now, there is no specific date for the introduction of the European transit arrangements, but that is coming downstream, so we need to examine it and take cognisance of it and its impact on a range of issues in relation to the United Kingdom.

My Lords, the noble Baroness’s Question had very little to do with Brexit and a great deal more to do with the Schengen arrangements, of which we were never actually a member. However, I have my own question, which is this: when I fly from an Irish airport into Heathrow, I do not get asked to present my passport on arrival, in compliance with the common travel area arrangements of which we are a member. However, when I take a direct flight from a British airport to an Irish airport, I am required to queue up and show my passport. Has the Minister recently had discussions with the Irish Government about whether they are fulfilling their obligations under the common travel area in a fully reciprocal way?

My understanding is that for movement between Ireland and the UK there is currently no border control. I know as a former Northern Ireland Minister—but it also relates to the settlement that the noble Lord’s previous Government made—that that is part of what was established to make sure that we meet our obligations under the Good Friday agreement. If he wishes to give me outside this Chamber an example of where the Irish Government have checked passports, I will certainly look at that, investigate it and report back to him and, if need be, to the House in due course.

My Lords, before any decisions can be made about dedicated passport routes, it will be necessary for Doncaster Sheffield Airport to reopen. Can my noble friend the Minister, when he is next in discussion with Transport Ministers, raise the issue of Doncaster Sheffield Airport and emphasise how important it is for growth and tourism, as he mentioned earlier?

I know that my noble friend has made the case for the airport in Doncaster and Sheffield—and other places which I forget—on a regular basis. It was once called Robin Hood Airport—whether there is still a discussion around that is important. I assure her that I will discuss it with Transport Ministers but that, however and whenever that airport develops, it will have strong borders along with every other airport in this United Kingdom to ensure that we control our borders firmly and effectively.

My Lords, as a former chairman of VisitScotland and ex officio member of the British Tourist Authority, I regularly saw research which showed that tourist visas to this country were both very expensive and complicated to obtain. Various Governments have made various promises about trying to do something about that. What progress have the Government made in looking at both the complexity and the cost of visas for tourists to this country, who provide so much wealth for us?

I say to the noble Viscount that the figures I have given to the House today show that 55% of passport usage through gates in the United Kingdom is from British citizens. That self-evidently means that 45% is not, and that 45% is a significant number of people. There are 130.9 million arrivals in the United Kingdom, so 45% of 130.9 million is around 65 million arrivals. That is an important growth element for business and tourism and one that we should encourage. I certainly want to make sure that we have integrity on our borders but also that we are welcoming and open to business, tourism and the spend, and the international support that gives when people return from this United Kingdom to their own country and extol the virtues of this country that we are so proud of.