Security minister Dan Jarvis has been urged to say how the Government plans to make UK ports secure after The i Paper revealed two suspected Russian spies slipped into Britain on cargo ships.
During spring and summer this year, they entered Britain via docks at Torquay, Middlesbrough and Grangemouth. Once ashore, they visited areas close to military bases and critical infrastructure, according to a cache of intelligence.
Arriving on commercial cargo ships enabled them to take advantage of “less rigorous” border checks, according to experts. Neither ship that the pair travelled on was Russian-flagged, nor do they appear on global lists tracking Russia’s sanctioned “shadow fleet” — a network of vessels known for concealing ownership and identity to move restricted goods.
Jarvis has now been been asked to update Parliament and provide “clarity and reassurance” that strict measures are being introduced to prevent UK ports being infiltrated in the future.
Lib Dem MP Steve Darling – who’s constituency covers Torquay docks – wrote to Jarvis about the “urgent security matter”, stating that local communities “deserve assurance that any vulnerabilities are being urgently addressed, that appropriate intelligence assessments are under way, and that information will be shared.”
The MP for Torbay set key points he wished the security minister to answer, including what steps the Government has taken to secure UK ports, whether enhanced screening measured will be applied to cargo crew, and how local police are being supported.
UK Counter Terrorism Policing fielded a call about suspicious activity near Lulworth firing range (Photo: Finnbarr Webster/Getty)Darling also requested the Government give a formal update to Parliament, “so that Members may scrutinise and support the Government’s response”.
The i Paper’s investigation revealed that both cargo ships transporting the suspected spies had sourced their crew using firms known for hiring Russian seafarers.
Russian sailors comprise about 10 per cent of the maritime industry, making it an “ideal” cover for Moscow’s agents, according to a senior Nato official.
Spies are suspected of using falsified CVs and maritime work documents to secure legitimate postings on cargo ships, according to officials. This form of entry gives operatives plausible deniability and shields them from heightened scrutiny at airports.
Further findings highlighted how counter-terror police received reports of a suspicious man monitoring Lulworth firing range in Dorset at the same time as a suspected Russian spy was in the area.
The local who alerted the police said a man with an Eastern European accent flew drones during the evening, ate boil-in-bag rations, and was seen climbing a tree to fix a small metal device to it, leading to speculation that it “resembled a transmitter”.
Security minister Dan Jarvis was forced to respond to reports of suspected Russian spies entering the UK on cargo ships (Photo: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)Following the reports, Conservative MP Sarah Bool probed Jarvis in the House of Commons about the Government’s response to the findings.
“We are doing everything we can to counter it,” the security minister said, adding that departments across government, intelligence and law enforcement were looking at the incident “carefully”.
In signing off his letter, Darling asked for his request to be dealt with the upmost importance.
“Given the understandable anxiety this has caused in the communities directly affected, and the clear implications for national security,” he wrote. “I would appreciate your urgent consideration of this matter and a swift response.”
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