We received this e-mail from one of our friends who was on a coach trip last week :-
"There are lots of coaches going through the tunnel this morning, Dutch, French, Polish and us, a nice English shopping trip coach. As we pull up at the Border Control offices we are told we have to take everything off the coach and go through with it. You just know we are going to take a hit, stands out a mile when they say that.
So, everyone grabs their goods and heads for Passport control, you can see the bruisers lining up behind them and there are a lot of them, they have come mob handed (do they really need boots that big?). As I wait to have my passport scanned I notice a few people sitting down everybody, who has just had their passport scanned anyway, is asked to present their passport again to the guys in UKBA coats (oh and one little girl, though she appears to be a trainee).
“Hello, passport please”
Well at least he is polite.
“What have you bought?” I tell him 3 kilos of Springfield HRT.
“When were you last over, what did you buy then, how long will it last you, have you ever had any dealings with customs etc”
Then he asks if I have the receipt, fair enough I hand it to him.
Then comes something new. He slips the receipt in my passport, points to the benches and asks me to take a seat. The problem is, by this time, they have seized so many passports and receipts, there is no room left to sit down!
Gradually they collect the passports and receipts of the majority of the passengers, the young girl I mentioned, she carries away a bundle of passports so thick she can hardly get her hand round it and other “officers” also carry a few away.
All goes quiet at this point, apart from all the other visitors from the EU passing through scanning control and being sent on their merry way, their coaches could have been loaded to the gunnels with contraband and they weren’t even sniffed at from what I could see! They must have processed 5 coaches just while they were hitting on us at stage one.
After a good long wait, possibly 30 minutes in my case, one of the “officers” comes out and shouts my name, I walk up, he hands me back my passport, I say thank you, get no explanation, and walk out of the building to be greeted by the travellers who had just been passed without let or hindrance. Same “officer” that called my name, called a lady after me and she followed me out. I think they did this with a few people, I put my goods back on the coach and it was empty bar a couple of people and the drivers. This was going to be a messy one.
In the end I think 3 or 4 people had their good seized, at least one was told not to come back for 9 months and another told 6 months or their goods would be seized. It was cold, windy occasionally wet and from being stopped to getting rolling again it was 2 hours 22 minutes according to my recording device. This is only hearsay but someone said one of the “officers” had told someone “that coach is marked, it will get pulled every time” though it appears it was in a stage whisper type affair “I shouldn’t tell you this but”.
The mass seizure of passports is a new one on me. I am wondering if they were taken off to be scanned with the receipts for future reference. It was obviously a scare tactic, especially when combined with the stage whisper, which it must have been known would be spread among the passengers.
Is this an attempt to wreck a legitimate business, as well as frighten the nervous shoppers?
One of the drivers was saying that the previous week they had virtually been waved through (they go every Friday night).
Unfortunately in my mad dash out of the house I forgot to pick up the cards for N2D, but I did talk with a few people and tell them about the site. At least one of the group is I hear, going to appeal against their seizure.
All in all a quite eventful trip, wonder what will happen next time"
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UKBA/Border Force are acting illegally again! They are simply not allowed to do this. They can't detain and delay a complete coach full of passengers without having reasonable grounds for doing so.
What's worse is then they ask questions in the hope of of obtaining grounds for a subsequent search.
lt states in their own manual the following :-
"When exercising the powers at sections 163 or 163A an officer MUST have reasonable grounds for
the initial stop. Officers must not stop someone in the hope of obtaining grounds through
questioning to support a subsequent search."
What then followed was simply unbelievable. After the passengers had had their passports scanned at Immigration Control and proceeded to Customs Control, other UKBA/Border Force Officers then asked for the passenger's passports to be handed over!
Just who the hell do they think they are? They can ask for ID but they can't ask specifically for the passport. The passport isn't actually owned by you but it takes the Secretary of State to take it off you. UKBA/Border Force have no right to it ... period. They can ask for ID but that doesn't mean you have to show them your passport and it certainly does not mean you have to hand it over.
Show them some other form of ID, something like your driving licence is good :-
Personally, l blank out my d.o.b, number and address with removable coach tape ... it's still ID and shows who l am. Ask them for their ID first ... then you'll see how much they themselves are loathe to do so. Don't answer any questions until they identify themselves. The most you'll probably get from them is their ID number, l doubt very much they'll show you their photo ID. Yet, they want you to give everything ... don't do it! You are under no legal obligation to do so. Show them your preferred ID but don't give them it.
The problem is that UKBA/Border Force are not ordering you to do it .... they are asking for your consent ... listen carefully to what they actually say and not what you think they are saying. If you give consent, you can blame nobody but yourself. l know it's a bit scary to say "I do not consent" but you'll find that nothing bad happens to you. All them scare stories about arrests and rubber gloves etc are just urban myths .... we speak from experience! First time you stand up and be counted can be scary ... the 2nd time is easy and it gets easier.
You have to make a stand for what is right. If you don't, they'll just keep on doing it ... because you let them!
Oh, and don't forget to record the whole thing! :)
UPDATE
Seems l have to clarify what l'm saying. I'm not advocating whole out rebellion (which to be truthful l'd like). What l'm saying is when they act like East Berlin Border Guards by herding 30-45 passengers from a coach and then harass and intimidate them by abusing their own regulations, the passengers should not remain subdued and subservient.
Get to know the people you are travelling with and don't be isolated. Make your concerns heard and speak in groups. Begin with asking the UKBA/Border Force Officers for their ID and tell them you are recording them. That'll be enough to get their attention. Question by what regulations they are doing this to you. Don't be aggressive about it, simply be calm and collected ... and record everything. Voice your complaints and then when you get back home put in an official complaint if you want.
Make it difficult for them by asking these questions and getting their answers recorded on your dictaphones/mobile phones. lf you remain docile and subservient then you are condoning what the UKBA/Border Force are doing. Bullies feed of this so don't do it.
l'm not asking people to do what we do, all l'm saying is voice your concerns and stand together.
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