There is a lacuna in the law whereby perpetrators of vicious sexual acts against our children are able to pass through our borders without having their phones and laptops searched, even though they are suspected of storing on them images and videos of child abuse and exploitation material.
I secured a Westminster Hall debate advocating that the government take steps to plug this gap. I believe we must allow our Border Force the power to search digital devices at our borders when a passenger is suspected of possessing indecent or obscene files, and when a passenger refuses a reasonable search, that he be arrested under a new criminal offence of obstruction.
