Brodie Clark: ‘I am no rogue officer’

Mr Clark, who resigned last week over the borders fiasco accusing Theresa May of making his position “untenable”, told the home affairs select committee he gave the home secretary a weekly update on the trial’s progress.

He said: “I am no rogue officer. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Home Secretary Theresa May maintains that she allowed some border checks to be relaxed as part of a pilot scheme, but she says that Border Force boss Mr Clark took the trial further without her authorisation.

I am no rogue officer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Former UK Border Force boss Brodie Clark

Mr Clark contradicts this account completely, and is lodging a claim for constructive dismissal. He described the ongoing row as a “nightmare” and also told MPs that he had been offered nine months’ pay if he retired from the UK Border Force without a scandal.

Mr Clark said: “Let me say at the outset that I introduced no additions to the home secretary’s trial, neither did I extend it or alter it in any way whatsoever.

“Over the first month of the trial I reported weekly to the home secretary, as she required, and with each briefing I offered a follow-up meeting. Aside from teething issues, the trial delivered into the border business exactly as she wished.

Catastrophe?
Former immigration whistleblower, Steve Moxon, told Channel 4 News the latest scandal is just another sign of the “catastrophe” within the Home Office.

“Such is the depth of the catastrophe that is the Home Office that nothing short of a root-and-branch reform is necessary, but this presupposes a radical change in political will of which none of the three PC-overwhelmed main political parties are capable,” he said.

Read more on how the borders row reveals the Home Office ‘catastrophe’

Checks relaxed

Mr Clark’s appearance before the home affairs select committee coincides with the release of figures showing the significance of the border check relaxations over the summer.

The figures show that border checks were waived “hundreds of times” at 28 ports. In one week alone, controls were eased 260 times, according to leaked emails between the UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials.

New evidence from Labour also shows that passengers on private jets were permitted entry to the UK without being seen by border officials.

The home secretary has already admitted that it may never be known how many people came into the UK while security was lax.

I have, as I always have over 40 years, delivered within the government parameters and I have done so with an absolute determination to strengthen the UK border. Former UK Border Force boss Brodie Clark

Mr Clark, 60, quit after he was suspended by his boss, UK Border Agency Chief Executive Rob Whiteman, when it emerged that checks for some non-EU nationals were being relaxed.

But Mr Clark told MPs: “I did not enlarge, extend or redefine the scope in any way. I have not wilfully or knowingly sanctioned an alteration to border checks that contravened existing Home Office policy.”

Health and safety?
The row between former UK Border Force boss Brodie Clark and Home Secretary Theresa May could, in part, boil down to different interpretations of health and safety rules already in place.

Giving evidence to MPs, Mr Clark pointed to existing guidance for border force staff, which has been in force since 2007, which states that border checks can be eased at ports for health and safety reasons.

The operational guidance states: “If, for whatever reason, it is considered necessary to take further measures, beyond those listed above, local managers must escalate to the border force duty director to seek authority for their proposed action.”

But last week Mrs May said the guidance “does not allow a decision to be made to significantly change the checks at the border” and was simply part of health and safety measures, should people start becoming ill or fainting in long queues.

Asked if he admitted allowing border staff to relax checks beyond the extent authorised by Ms May, Mr Clark said he did not and added that he still believed he had not done so.

“I at no stage told Mr Whiteman that I had gone beyond the terms of the pilot the home secretary initiated,” he said.

He added: “I have, as I always have over 40 years, delivered within the government parameters and I have done so with an absolute determination to strengthen the UK border.

“We have built a strong agenda of getting the best from our staff; exploiting the most from our technology and focusing strongest on the real harm and threat to the UK.

“We have come a long way in three years and it is by no accident that we now rank as one of the most secure border operations in the world.”