UK E-Borders Crap Illegal Under EU Law? Hahahahahahahaha

U.K.’s Plan to Track Visitors May Be Illegal, Lawmakers Say

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s 1.2 billion-pound ($1.94 billion) plan to track passenger movements in and out of the U.K. probably will be ruled illegal under European Union law, a panel of British lawmakers said.

The Home Affairs Committee said the so-called e-Borders program, which allows authorities to check passenger data supplied by airlines against a watch-list of suspected criminals, probably won’t be legal to operate on routes between the U.K. and European Union.

The panel said the program, which brings together the U.K.’s immigration agency, customs, police and visas authority, would interfere with both EU data protection standards and a rule that citizens of the 27-nation bloc can travel freely as long as they can show an identity document. The lawmakers want the program put on hold until its validity can be tested.

“The major stumbling block, and a very disappointing oversight, is that we are sure that what the program requires will be illegal,” Keith Vaz, a lawmaker from the ruling Labour Party who leads the panel, said in an e-mail. “It is shocking that money has already been spent on a program which could never be implemented.”

Damian Green, a member of Parliament who speaks on immigration for the Conservative opposition, said “it beggars belief that after so many years of pursuing this project, the government still isn’t sure whether it is even legal.”

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the program is “fully compliant with EU law and has been confirmed by the European Commission.” The program has screened 137 million passengers and led to 4,700 arrests since 2005, he said.

Fuckwits, the lot of them. Woolas being one of the biggest fuckwits ever to hold office.