Parliament: Home Affairs Select Committee - It Teresa May toast?

Quick one on Select Committes, today the Home Affairs Select Committee meets to delve into border checks being relaxed at 28 locations which has caused a furore. Nice example of Select committees in action and of clear import to the issue of the effectiveness of parliamentary scutiny of the executive.

Brodie Clarke, the former head of the UK Border Force, faces a grilling from MPs today as the Home Secretary revealed the pilot scheme to cut passport checks was implemented at 28 ports and airports. In written evidence to the Home Affairs Committee, Theresa May also claimed that she did not tell Brodie Clark to go beyond the parameters of the pilot scheme and that 10m people entered the UK during the pilot. The committee will also hear from Immigration Minister Damian Green and Rob Whiteman, chief executive of the UK Border Agency.

Follow up link in the Indepepndent: Brodie Clark and the bravery that we need to encourage Stefan Stern, The Independent

Today Brodie Clark is appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee. He will finally get a chance to explain what he did or did not do in his senior role at the UK Border Force. It will be his day in the court of public opinion. But Mr Clark has already paid a high price to win the freedom to speak out. He has resigned his post after a long career. No amount of compensation for a constructive dismissal claim will make up for the shock of his sudden exit.

And Rachel sylvester in the Times:Sir Humphrey has a lot to answer for. There is a tendency among ministers who get into power after a period in opposition to assume that the civil servants are out to get them. In fact, the first lesson they should learn in Whitehall is that politicians cannot afford to go to war with their officials.

From Politicshome’s running blog: 12.52 Lord West gave an interview on the Daily Politics today in which he described Theresa May as “toast” following Mr Clark’s evidence. PoliticsHome has a transcript of the interview for subscribers, but here are the key quotes:

“I think the Home Secretary is toast. I think she’s had it really, I’m afraid. It’s a shame because I like her, but this has been a complete and utter mess.”

“It is a dangerous thing to start picking on your senior civil servants, you’ve got to be very careful of your facts, I’m very surprised we haven’t seen anything of Damian Green who should be absolutely close up on this the entire time, it is his job to do that for the Home Secretary, I mean this is very disturbing I think. Now I’m sure the whole truth will finally come out, I know Brodie Clark, I find it extraordinary to think he’d go and do that, he’s not a sort of maverick, he doesn’t go running wild.”