The infrastructure thing is spot on - the airport provide all that and are required to by law to all the control authorities. What can I say, you've clearly noticed the shabbiness too, the desks being unmanned though? All I can say is sorry for your experience in that part of the port. In mitigation, perhaps something else was in the offing and resources were diverted to cope. I can assure you it will not have been by design that you were forced to wait.
e-Borders.....
Hard to say where I sit on this one, I am not a proponent of such databases, especially given the governments IT record but there are a few plus's I guess in intelligence and intervention work upstream. The downside is the issue of 'mission creep' but I've not heard of anything to suggest it would be used for anything other than looking at border stuff and I would not unfairly characterise it's use without knowing for sure. It's been operating for a while now anyway in another form.
UK Border Agency | How we tested e-Borders
Saw the following elsewhere about e-Borders - makes really interesting reading.
A UK Border Agency spokesman defended the e-borders scheme. "It allows us to secure the UK's Borders by screening people as they travel in and out of the UK.
"The e-Borders scheme has already screened over 82m passengers travelling to Britain, leading to more than 2,900 arrests, for crimes including murder, drug dealing and sex offences. e-borders helps the police catch criminals who attempt to escape justice."
Here's the response I read:
OK so that means that 0.0035% of travelers get arrested for crimes committed.
That is 3.5/100000 travelers.
Taking a look at other stats it transpires that 1.5/100000 Brits are in jail, caught and convicted.
Let's be charitable and say that the current policing and judicial system has an efficiency of 20%; i.e. 1/5 crimes gets solved and someone caught, convicted and sent to prison. That means that potentially 7.5/100000 Brits have committed a prisonable offence.
If e-borders manages to identify 3.5/100000 only it means that it is slightly less effective than tossing a coin.
Hmm, maybe not the best way to spend a few billion.
Cheaper than buying a bank I suppose.
Great post though.
