Border Agency whistle blower gives evidence to MPs

Via No Borders South Wales

As part of the oral session of the internal inquiry into the UK Border Agency, former UKBA employee Louise Perrett appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons on Tuesday 2 March and gave evidence of her experience of working in the agency’s Cardiff office.

Perrett, who worked for the Agency last summer, has said that there was a culture of racist discrimination within the office. She wanted to make clear what was not a focus of media coverage, which tended to highlight specific claims, that there was a culture of racism which meant that those professional and diligent staff felt unable to speak up against.

The committee questioned Perrett on the detail of her claims, with Conservative Monmouth MP David Davis arguing that the Cardiff office of the UKBA approves more asylum applications than many other branches. He argued that this was because they weren't properly considered.

As well as evidence presented by Perrett, later in the session John Vine, Chief Inspector of UKBA, and Lin Homer, chief executive of UKBA, also appeared in front of the committee.

Video of her testimony is on the House of Commons website. A full transcript should be available on the Committee website within about 2 weeks.

(video will appear here when uploaded)

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