UK Borders Bill

The risk-based approach could not work when applied to a liner arriving at Orkney, Shetland, Leith in Edinburgh or perhaps at Glasgow in the Clyde. There could be a terrorist on board who had managed to get a place on the ship. The immigration officers may be in great trouble if at one of these ports, small or large—perhaps at the heliport on the Isle of Mull—they come upon someone who looks suspicious and needs to be kept until a policeman can be found. I do not know how many police there are on the Isle of Mull but I am sure they do not all live at Salen where the heliport is. That person will have to be held and the Bill will enable the immigration officer to hold them until the police can arrive and do the necessary. The more the Minister describes the arrangements, the less adequate they seem in Scotland at the moment. The protection of the United Kingdom may well depend on the protection of the Scottish coastline; there is no question about that. I know Mr Salmond cannot get anything to happen in the Scots Parliament without other parties helping him but, judging by the view of the noble Lord on the Liberal Benches, he would not be short of help. He certainly would not be short of help from my party if he wanted to go ahead with this. I hope the Government will not just sit around and hope everything will go away. They must talk to Mr Salmond and try to get the Bill to apply to Scotland.