Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, perhaps I may throw a small pebble into the pool, although I apologise for not being here for the entire debate. I am one of a category of three or four of your Lordships on these Benches, including my noble friends Lord Cope and Lord Brooke. I was in their situation for seven years, a good while before they came to your Lordships’ House. I used to travel, although not as they have done, to another part of the United Kingdom. Every time I flew, the terminals were very like those that we now find abroad. In Europe, there are two gates. One is the ““Schengen””, which I believe is a town or city in Belgium. Under the Schengen agreement, those passport holders go through one gate, while those of us who hold other European passports, even though they are legitimate, go through another gate. Will the Minister see that this system does not arise at airports in the United Kingdom? I recall that at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports every passenger, whether they were arriving or leaving, had to produce identification. For reasons that the Minister and my colleagues who have spoken will know perfectly well, we often did not need to produce identification; indeed, it might not have matched up with our various other travel documents, thus causing confusion. In any case, normally I was in the kindest and most benevolent form of custody to ensure that I arrived at my destination. During my time in Northern Ireland, some officials in my department could recall the years of the Second World War. When they travelled across the Irish Sea in the areas described by my noble friends and the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney, their books and work were searched. It was wartime and I am sure that there were good reasons for doing so, but I add this small pebble to the discussion to see whether the Minister could look at this issue. I do not believe that the Minister’s department or the Government wish to create such enormous difficulties. If the Minister really imagines that it is only Rangers and Celtic fans going to and fro, I have to tell him that half the fans of Manchester United come from Ireland, as well as enormous numbers from Liverpool. The crowds are extremely large; indeed, he might care to look at the trouble that the football supporters legislation of the 1990s gave to the Government of the day. I ask him to join with other Members of the House, particularly noble Lords on these Benches and the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney, and look at this issue.