My Lords, is it not the case that, whatever systems are used at the border, staff are needed to oversee the border and the e-gates? Can the Minister comment on the recent Daily Mail article, which said that the Defence Secretary
“has refused the Home Secretary's request for 750 troops to be deployed to plug gaps in the UK’s Border Force—claiming that Ms Braverman should have made contingency plans for the shortages, rather than expecting him to act as a last-minute stop-gap”?
The Home Secretary has said that, without those 750 members of the Armed Forces
“to help man immigration posts to cover for striking or absent Border Force officers, then British travellers could face long queues”.
What does the Minister say to that?