IMMIGRATION officers are taking week-long cruises on the Queen Mary 2 so pampered passengers can avoid queues when they arrive in Southampton. Staff from the United Kingdom Border Agency, criticised last week by MPs for “losing” 74,500 asylum seekers in Britain, are working in the plush surroundings of the exclusive liner, flagship of the renowned Cunard fleet. The American authorities do not let their staff board the liner for voyages to New York from Britain but the UKBA is happy to man the ships so passengers can have their passports and documentation checked before they dock. Conservative MP Douglas Carswell said yesterday: “It is extraordinary that an agency that declares itself short-staffed and under-resourced can find the manpower to put people on a luxury cruise and not just process the paperwork when passengers arrive back in the UK. “They would be better off putting their efforts into deporting illegal immigrants rather than spending their time on luxury liners.”
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