16 Sep 2014

Scottish border control? You must be joking!

A spoof passport control post is erected at Carter Bar on the A68 where the road crosses from England to Scotland. It was set up by photographer Jon Parker Lee.

So will there really be new border posts? FactCheck says...

The SNP has made it clear that they do not want to see passport checks on the border between England and Scotland. The Scottish government says an independent Scotland would continue to be part of the common travel area, which lets people travel between the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands with minimal border controls.

A study by Oxford University's MIgration Observatory found that most people in Scotland and in the rest of the UK think it unlikely that border checks would be introduced if Scots vote yes. But the SNP has also said it wants to relax immigration controls to encourage more foreign workers to come to Scotland.

Both the home secretary, Theresa May, and Labour leader Ed Miliband have said that a UK government might have to set up border posts after a vote for independence to avoid Scotland becoming a "soft route" for immigrants entering the UK from Scotland.