Damian Green, the UK immigration minister, said that despite its criticism of the key supplier to the programme, the government remained committed to the e-borders concept, which is claimed to help reduce the threat of terrorism, crime and immigration abuse through the electronic collection and checking of individual passenger details against police, security and immigration watch lists.
’Regrettably, however, the home secretary has no confidence in the prime supplier of the e-borders contract - Raytheon - which since July 2009 has been in breach of contract. With critical parts of the programme already running at least 12 months late, we have taken the decision to terminate the e-borders contract with them,’ he said.
The UK government, he added, is determined to get value for money from its major contracts and requires the highest standard of performance from its suppliers. The government will now be seeking alternative providers to continue to deliver the project.
’We have committed to improve our existing border controls and bring a greater focus to organised crime by introducing a Border Police Force. This is on top of the fingerprinting of visa applicants and watch list checks at UK border controls,’ he concluded.
Click here to read about the ambitious initiative to keep tabs on all travel to and from the UK.
Nanogenerator consumes CO2 to generate electricity
Whoopee, they've solved how to keep a light on but not a lot else.