PCS: Inquiry needed into border agency
Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka comments on Friday's news of the suspension of the head of the UK border force:
"The UK Border Agency seems to operate a culture of no dissent, with staff afraid to speak out about the damaging impact of politically-motivated cuts and the problems they're causing that are now bubbling to the surface.
"Rather than deal with the very serious issues we have consistently raised, senior managers and ministers have instead tried to silence the union. Two of our senior reps were sacked last year after leading the opposition to cuts in UKBA.
"We would welcome a wide-ranging inquiry, not just into the specific issues that have led to these suspensions, but also into the way UKBA as a whole is being run.
"It should now be obvious to everyone that the government needs to put an immediate stop to the cuts in UKBA and invest in staff and resources to ensure this pattern is not simply repeated."
