MP committee says new border scheme could be illegal

A new government programme that aims to track the movements of all travelers in and out of the UK may be prevented from roll out due to fears over its legality.

According to European Union law, countries within the EU are required to allow citizens from within the union free movement across its borders. The UK initiative stipulates that passengers provide personal details prior to travel, thereby garnering warnings from the Home Affairs Select Committee that it may contravene over-riding laws. The e-Borders programme for Britain is this likely to be placed on hold while a legal ruling is made on the £1.2 billion scheme.

The new proposal has been pushed through parliament so far in spite of a ruling from the EU over its legality. The committee has declared that free movement rules would most definitely be breached by the e-Borders enactment which may also contravene laws governing data protection. The scheme came in for strong criticism by Home Affairs Select Committee Chairman Keith Vaz who claimed the fact that millions had been spent in spite of strong fears that it could be axed was shocking. Vaz also added that this oversight was disappointing and called for an immediate suspension to the move from the UKBA until a resolution is found.

The programme had hoped to collate the name, age, gender, address and nationality of every passenger and crew member progressively over the next five years with a 60 percent target by the end of this year alone, rising to 95 percent over the next year for all international passengers.

The Home Office has insisted that the e-Borders scheme will go ahead and that it is confident of its legality.