Home Office Releases 13 Unpublished Reports by Sacked Borders Watchdog

Published on March 1, 2024

The Home Office on Thursday published 13 of 15 leftover reports submitted by David Neal, who was sacked as the borders and immigration watchdog last month. Before he was fired, Mr. Neal, then-independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, had accused the Home Office of sitting on his reports and detailed some of his findings to a number of media outlets. The 13 inspection reports published on Thursday cover a range of subjects including asylum accommodation, the Afghan resettlement scheme, asylum casework, Border Force practices, illegal working enforcement operations, and ePassport gates. They were released by the Home Office on the same day as an inquiry on Sarah Everard’s murder and the release of asylum statistics, however Downing Street downplayed suggestions this was deliberate....