Sammy Wilson: UK must act on travel rules to avoid border crisis - and Ireland must be open to conducting checks

Sammy Wilson also says the government should ask Ireland to conduct checks there – if the Republic wants to keep the common travel area.

He was responding to an admission by a Home Office official that it will be "a challenge" to catch people illegally entering the UK from the Republic of Ireland who have not signed up to a new travel scheme.

Managing travel into the UK post-Brexit has become increasingly complex – with an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) now a requirement for people who do not need a visa to come to the UK.

Concerns were raised post-Brexit about free travel across the Irish border for people who don’t benefit from rights under the Common Travel area – the scheme was an attempt to avoid physical checks.

The programme is being extended to nationals of all countries but will not apply to Irish citizens.

Simon Bond, a senior director in the Home Office, was questioned by the House of Lords' Justice and Home Affairs Committee about enforcement.

Lord Sandhurst asked Mr Bond about a scenario in which a foreign national of “villainous intent” enters the Republic of Ireland and could “just hop on a plane to London” despite not having an ETA – questioning how security services would know they have done this.

Mr Bond admitted “that is certainly a challenge”, adding: “The overall intent is to understand as much as possible about everyone coming to the UK”.

Lord Sandhurst responded: “If I'm on a wicked mission for Mr Putin [Russian president Vladimir Putin] carrying dangerous poisons, that would be my route in, wouldn't it?”

Mr Bond did not reply.

Lord Dubs raised concerns about tourists from third countries committing a criminal offence if they cross into Northern Ireland from the Republic without an ETA.

The peer asked the minister "how are you going to enforce this?" given there are no immigration controls at the land border.

In his response, Mr Pursglove said: "We want to stop individuals from arriving at the UK border in the first place, understanding more about people who are making those journeys.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has warned that the government needs to deal with the situation now, before it becomes a crisis – and the government’s response becomes ID checks on people travelling from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Speaking to the News Letter, Mr Wilson said: “The problem has always been there. But it will now be made worse by the fact that we are in a situation where there are states that are prepared to do damage to people in our territory and they will find ways of infiltrating to do that.

“We’ve now got an immigration act which will put more focus on the routes into GB through Ireland, and then Northern Ireland – because we are exempt [from those laws] due to the Protocol.

“The government should not wait until there is a crisis and then use that crisis to force yet another border for people living in Northern Ireland – in the country to which they belong.

“They should identify the problem now and start talking to the Irish government on it. The Irish government have every incentive to talk to the British government on it, and to look for solutions which prevent those scenarios occurring – because it will also impact on Irish citizens who move frequently across to GB, whether it’s for work or to visit relatives.

“The important thing is, government should be anticipating problems may arise and avoiding yet more impositions on the people of Northern Ireland and removing more of their citizenship from them”.

Mr Wilson added: “Let’s see the government putting some passion into fighting for the Union on this occasion, rather than simply allowing things to drift into a crisis which they then have to deal with”. He suggested Ireland should conduct checks on people when they arrive in Ireland. “Would they do that? Well if you threatened to do away with the free travel area ​​​​​​, maybe they would”.

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