Quote of the day
“I’m defending my staff who put their lives on the line for us.”
- Phil Woolas, Home Office minister, paying tribute to our Armed Forces the UK Border Agency, who he praised for being made up of “very brave men and women who protect our borders” on Radio 4 this morning. Critics said it was ‘deeply insensitive’ to compare desk-bound civil servants to British troops, and Woolas’s comments came as military chiefs prepared to name the 100th member of the Armed Forces to die in Afghanistan this year. A recent Home Affairs Select Committee report said the UKBA was still ”not fit for purpose” years after revelations about foreign prisoners and the backlog of asylum claims. The committee’s chairman, Keith Vaz, added that it was ”astonishing” that £300,000 worth of bonuses were paid by the UKBA this year despite an embarrassing new discovery that officials had lost track of tens of thousands of immigrants.
Witanagemot Blogs
“…being made up of “very brave men and women who protect our borders”…”
Oh, really?
On TV this morning Vaz said Woolas’ outfit was not fit for purpose. Wonder if Woolas knows. Sheesh, Home Office, DEFRA (or whatever it’s called now), UKBA, Treasury, MOD: does anything work under Labour?
“does anything work under Labour? ”
You been away for awhile,Talwin?
who protect our borders” on Radio 4 this morning
Wish I could protect our borders on radio.
“who protect our borders” …. some protection. If the Mafia protected people as well as the UKBA, they’d have gone out of business decades ago.