A Labour MP, Lindsey Hoyle, is calling for the army to routinely secure the UK’s borders.
A special army unit should be formed to secure Britain’s borders against illegal immigration and terrorism, a Lancashire MP has said. Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle wants troops to be based in all of the country’s major ports.
He thinks the force should be modelled on the army units which patrolled Hong Kong’s border with China when it was a British colony. Under his proposals, soldiers would carry out checks on foreign lorries alongside police officers.
He also believes the government should negotiate an agreement with France to allow the soldiers to work on the other side the Channel Tunnel.
Mr Hoyle has presented his blueprint to Gordon Brown’s parliamentary private secretary and urged him to recommend it to the Prime Minister. The MP told the LEP that constituents are desperate for the government to take tough action against illegal immigration.
He claims the army has invaluable experience of border control gained from the troubles in Northern Ireland.
Eh?
I can think of perhaps one other party in UK politics that might come up with a plan to militarise UK borders, outside of a national emergency, and I’m not thinking about the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats.
Lindsay Hoyle had a majority of 7,625. If the Conservatives obtain power, Chorley will probably be theirs, as it was prior to 1997 for 18 years. It’s another sign of panic in the ranks. However, Gordon Brown has enough problems without crackpot ideas like placing British Troops on French soil, without the usual trigger of German Panzer divisions rolling over Belgium.
