Watchdog sacked via Zoom over border row

Rishi Sunak was accused of presiding over "total Tory chaos" last night over immigration policies, after Britain's borders watchdog was sacked in a hastily arranged Zoom call.

- Rajeev Syal

David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, was told by a top civil servant yesterday that the home secretary, James Cleverly, was terminating his job with immediate effect.

Neal, who had been in the role for nearly three years and was due to step down next month, had recently expressed his concern that there would be no one in the watchdog role for several months as ministers tried to force through Sunak's controversial Rwanda policy. Downing Street blocked his reappointment, an unusual move for the post in which his predecessors all served two full three-year terms.

The Home Office said that Neal, a former police officer and soldier who commanded the 1st Military Police Brigade from 2016 until 2019, had "breached the terms of appointment".

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: "This is total Tory chaos on borders and immigration. A series of Conservative home secretaries have sought to bury uncomfortable truths revealed by the chief inspector about our broken borders, and shockingly they are still sitting on 15 unpublished reports stretching back to April last year. The home secretary must now publish those reports in full.