|
|
|
|
|
5,000 illegal immigrants working as security guards in UK's most sensitive buildings JAMES SLACK Five thousand illegal immigrants have been cleared to work as security guards at some of the UK's most sensitive buildings. In yet another Government blunder, the Home Office has allowed the immigrants to take up posts at ports and airports - and even at Whitehall - despite having no legal right to be in the country. And checks on the man who is in charge of guarding Gordon Brown's prime ministerial car against terrorist booby-traps revealed he was in the country illegally. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) said it was not its job to even ask applicants seeking jobs protecting the public if they were illegal immigrants. The only checks carried out were on a person's past behaviour or for any criminal record.
Since the situation came to light in July, officials admitted as many as 5,000 illegal immigrants have been given SIA licences over the past three years. It is feared they also include up to six people working at the Metropolitan Police. The latest fiasco follows revelations last year that the Home Office had itself employed illegal immigrants on at least seven separate occasions. It employed the workers both directly and indirectly, including five Nigerians who were caught working as cleaners within days of John Reid taking charge of the department last May.
|
||||
