Britain is to get a unified force to patrol its borders, bringing together immigration and customs in a concerted attempt to combat the terror threat.
Britain is to get a unified force to patrol its borders, bringing together immigration and customs in a concerted attempt to combat the terror threat.
Gordon Brown announced the move yesterday as part of a controversial package which included extending the time limit that terror suspects can be held to 56 days and allowing courts to hear evidence obtained by wiretap.
The Prime Minister also set out alternative proposals which would introduce French-style "examining magistrates" to run police investigations, saying: "Our country - and all countries - have to confront a generation-long challenge to defeat al Qaeda-inspired terrorist violence."
The moves are likely to be particularly controversial in Scotland, with its separate legal system and rules on the admission of court evidence.
Following the attacks in Scotland, suspects were transferred to English jurisdiction.
Alex Salmond, making history as the first First Minister to address the House of Commons, cited the co-operation between the two legal systems in the wake of events at Glasgow Airport.
But he pressed Mr Brown to formalise the relationship between the two administrations, saying: "A number of things you are proposing touch on the requirements of Scottish law - evidential base disclosure, possible questioning after charge.
"Don't you see a role for the resumption of the joint ministerial committees between the law officers and justice ministers north and south of the border, in contributing to the consensus you are trying to establish?"
The Prime Minister also announced:
- A new system of electronic exit controls at UK borders from 2009, so that passports can be checked against the "warnings index" in real time
- Biometric visas extended to all applicants from March 2008
- A review by Home Office minister Lord West of how best to protect buildings and infrastructure such as roads, railways, tunnels and water systems
- Linking the UK watchlist of suspects to the Interpol database of lost and stolen documents
- An extra £70m to help local councils and community groups resist violent extremism
- Consultation on tightening bail conditions and travel restrictions in cases where people are suspected of involvement with terrorism, following concerns that July 21 bomb plot ringleader Muktar Said Ibrahim was able to go to Pakistan while facing charges.
The review of wiretap evidence will be led by Sir John Chilcot, who also served as "staff counsellor" to MI5 and MI6 from 1999 to 2004. It will feature Lord Hurd of Westwell, LibDem Alan Beith MP and former Labour peer Lord Archer of Sandwell.
Under the proposals, officers from the Border and Immigration Agency, Revenue and Customs and UKVisas will be brought together to create a "single primary checkpoint" for passport control and customs.
The combined services would wear one uniform. However, both the Tories and Lib Dems said any border force should include police officers, new resources and new powers.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "New uniforms do not make a new force."
