Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown has said the admission that the decision by the coalition government to pull UK Border Agency police officers out of Stranraer port was to reduce costs “blows out of the water the pretence that this is anything but a dangerously irresponsible cost cutting measure.”
 
The admission came in a letter from Phil Taylor, Regional Director, Scotland and Northern Ireland, UK Border Agency in which he said “in line with the government’s requirement to bear down on the cost of the public sector we have had to reduce the size of the cadre of seconded police officers (who are a very expensive resource) […] at Stranraer and Cairnryan the number of seconded officers will reduce to none by the end of the financial year.”
 
It was revealed last week that the UK coalition government have decided to cut UK Border Agency funding for its three officers at the port - despite requests from the local police force to increase police presence to six officers.

Last year the SNP Scottish Government axed 11 officers form the port, leading Russell Brown to slam the “double-whammy” of cuts that have hit Stranraer.
 
Stranraer is the second busiest port in the UK and has more immigration issues than anywhere else in Scotland. The ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan are an anomaly in the UK as they are entry points to the UK mainland but not UK border entry points. This makes the ports attractive for illegal immigrants seeking to gain access and for organised criminals from Northern Ireland to smuggle contraband goods or illegal drugs to the UK mainland. In 2008 and 2009 61% of offences reported to the police in Dumfries and Galloway Ports Unit were immigration. In June a massive jump in counterfeit cigarettes coming through the region was revealed and the ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan were increasingly being used to smuggle them into the mainland from Northern Ireland.

Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown said: 

“This revelation blows out of the water the pretence that this is anything but a dangerously irresponsible cost-cutting measure. It is a shocking revelation that the government are seeking to make savings by reducing security at Stranraer. Apparently nothing is off limits when it comes to their rush to cut. The Tories have turned their backs on Dumfries and Galloway and are jeopardising public safety.

“I had secured support from the previous Home Office minister Meg Hillier to do more at Stranraer but the Tories have pulled the plug practically overnight. What is even more galling is that Ministers took this decision without even the decency to first visit Stranraer. It shows a huge lack of respect for the people of Dumfries and Galloway.

“It is utterly irresponsible that in response to growing security fears the UK Government have pulled out of the port. Police at the port do a vital job by stopping threats entering the UK and spreading to elsewhere in the country. The scale of the risk cannot be underestimated.”

Russell Brown also blasted the SNP Scottish Government as “hypocritical” for attempting to point the finger solely at the UK government when they cut 11 officers from Stranraer port last year.
 
Russell Brown MP added:

“The crocodile tears from the SNP Government are sickening. They made their position clear when they cut 11 officers from the port last year. It is utterly hypocritical to now jump on the bandwagon and start suddenly shouting about further cuts.

“We need a Scottish Government that can stand up for Stranraer, but the SNP aren’t able to make any demands of the UK government as they have already inflicted their own damage on the port.

“Stranraer has suffered from a double-whammy of cuts, first from the SNP Government in Edinburgh and now the Coalition government in London. We have been abandoned by both governments – they either don’t understand or don’t care about the security threat at the port.”

7 September 2010