e-Borders

I see that while I was returning to France yesterday, the obsessive control freakery of the UK government continues apace.

Passengers leaving every international sea port, station or airport will have to supply detailed personal information as well as their travel plans. So-called “booze cruisers” who cross the Channel for a couple of hours to stock up on wine, beer and cigarettes will be subject to the rules.

In addition, weekend sailors and sea fishermen will be caught by the system if they plan to travel to another country – or face the possibility of criminal prosecution.

The owners of light aircraft will also be brought under the system, known as e-borders, which will eventually track 250 million journeys annually.

Quite apart from the sheer enormity of the data collected – and, therefore, its reduced usefulness, the pretence that this has anything to do with terrorism is risible. This is nothing more than control freakery for the sake of it. Terrorism is simply an excuse, just as it has been a useful excuse for every grab at our liberties that this nauseating administration has taken.

I travel back and forth to the UK every month or so and now they want to know all about it – despite it being none of their business where I go or what I do as I am breaking no laws. And, why should I allow them access to sensitive information? Why do they need my email address, my credit card details and where I am travelling to when in France?

Currently passports are not checked as a matter of routine when people leave the country.

That’s because they are leaving so where they go thereafter is none of the UK government’s concern unless they have reasonable cause to suspect; in which case there are already the means in place to put such individuals under surveillance. To effectively put us all under surveillance is the height of paranoia.

However, passport inspections at ports have gradually been reintroduced as the Government looks to prevent anyone on a Government watchlist fleeing the country.

And how many of these people are there? Although, so far when leaving Portsmouth, I have only been stopped when driving something unusual – such as a van. When coming back last time, I was stopped and asked a few desultory questions by a bored policeman because I have French plates on a right hand drive vehicle.

Gwyn Prosser, Labour MP for Dover and a member of the all-party Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “I think e-borders are absolutely necessary,” he said. “Governments of all complexions have always been criticised for not knowing who is in the country. This is a very sophisticated way of counting people in and out.”

Quite apart for Prosser being a nasty fascist authoritarian, how, exactly, will this tell them who is in the country? They don’t know now, so harassing holiday makers and booze cruisers won’t change matters. Illegals will find more surreptitious methods of entering the country and those elusive terrorists will doubtless manage a workaround. No, as is usual, it is the law abiding majority who will be inconvenienced. It always is with these nasty little schemes. And, if I am being cynical, I would suggest that that was always the objective.

I’ll be following Leg Iron’s lead and using disposable email addresses and “dead” credit card details. Certainly I won’t be using my proper ones.