THE HEAD of the UK Border Force launched a scathing attack on the British home secretary last night as he quit to launch a constructive dismissal case.
Brodie Clark denied “improperly” extending a relaxation of controls and accused Theresa May of making his position “untenable”.
In a statement Mr Clark said: “I am anxious to take part in any independent inquiry into matters relating to UK Border Agency, but my position at UKBA had been made untenable because of the statements made in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary Theresa May.
“Those statements are wrong and were made without the benefit of hearing my response to formal allegations,” Mr Clarke added.
“With the home secretary announcing and repeating her view that I am at fault, I cannot see how any process conducted by the home office or under its auspices, can be fair and balanced.”
Ms May meanwhile has insisted that she will not quit over the decisions to reduce passport checks at air and seaports.
Responding to MPs’ questions, Ms May said she had agreed to a pilot project that reduced checks on EU passengers and children from other European states, but Mr Clarke had gone further.
“I take full responsibility for my decisions and actions related to the pilot, but Brodie Clark must take responsibility for his actions,” she told the Commons home affairs committee.
However, there is fury among senior civil servants at her focus on Mr Clarke, with one union, the First Division saying that he had been treated with contempt.
Former Labour home secretary David Blunkett said Mr Clark, who was governor of Whitemoor prison in 1994 when IRA prisoners escaped, had “been found guilty by the home secretary before the investigation is concluded.
“The truth is that you are dealing with the most difficult areas, you are dealing with border controls and immigration which is like a hot potato that people, as you can see tonight, are prepared to pass from hand to hand.
Prime minister David Cameron, who sat beside Ms May when she faced the ire of Labour MPs in the Commons on Monday, said the practices in the border force were “unacceptable”.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper demanded sight of the detailed instructions given to border officials by Ms May and immigration minister Damian Green.
