Technology will rule our borders in future, business leaders hear

Three Counties business leaders heard that technology will police our borders in the future with countries able to pre-screen travellers before entry, when John Vine, the first independent chief inspector of borders and immigration spoke at the Three Counties Big Breakfast.

In post for nearly six years until 2014, he highlighted problems with border controls and immigration checks during his tenure. He gave his audience an overview of the key problems of migration, passport and ID card issues and highlighted the need for intelligence sharing post-Brexit.

His audience of more than 70 businesspeople from across the Three Counties were able to quiz Mr Vine on his vision of the future – guests included Bill Davies, head of the law school at the University of Worcester, John Hatt of Business Partnership and Mike Goode of GB Solutions, along with representatives of Barclays, Brewin Dolphin, Handelsbanken and Hazlewoods.

Robert Capper, head of sectors for Harrison Clark Rickerbys, who sponsored the event, said: “It was fascinating to hear from someone who has such in-depth knowledge of the subject just how far technology could support the UK in the future; given the cyber expertise in this area, it is a subject of real commercial interest here.”