Big Brother to spy on your holidays as security database is set up to log all trips abroad

• Travellers must give details of ALL journeys out of UK

• 250million trips to be tracked annually

• £5,000 fine if you don't hand over travel plans, address and credit card details

All trips out of Britain are to be recorded on a massive new security database - along with personal details of every business traveller and holidaymaker.

Civil liberties groups voiced alarm at the scale of the new system - called 'e-borders' - which is aimed at tightening Britain's perimeters and countering terrorism.

Anyone who does not comply will face the risk of criminal prosecution and fines of up to £5,000.


The rules will apply to all journeys that involve leaving the UK, whether by air, sea or Channel Tunnel, regardless of how brief the trip.

Would-be travellers will have to log details online and the database will eventually track 250million trips every year, according to a report today in The Daily Telegraph.

Airlines, train companies and ship operators will also face fines if they fail to provide details of their crew and passengers.

'Travellers will need to ensure that their passports are up to date and that details are input accurately if they don't want to end up in a dark room being grilled by border officials.' 

Massive delays are anticipated at airports and seaports at Easter as the UK Border Agency introduces some of the new regulations.

The UK Border Agency said today that 82million passengers had already been recorded entering Britain - a process which had yielded 'more than 2,900 arrests for crimes including murder, drug dealing and sex offences'.

By the end of this year, 60 per cent of all journeys out of Britain will be affected. By the end of next year, the rules will apply to nearly all - 95 per cent.

Day trippers will be affected, including shoppers on 'booze cruises' to buy cigarettes and alcohol in supermarkets across the Channel.

Even cross-Channel swimmers and their support teams will have to comply.

By the time the e-borders system is fully in force in 2014, it will also apply to passengers and crew of light aircraft; as well as all trawlermen, yachtsmen and leisure boaters who plan to make landfall overseas.

Details will have to be logged at least 24 hours in advance and will be stored on the government database for roughly a decade.

It will represent a massive shift from the relaxed situation prior to 9/11, by which time John Major's government and then New Labour's Jack Straw had scrapped all exit controls.

Shipping groups and transport companies warned today that the new strictures will mean new delays for travellers.

The Chamber of Shipping predicted 'unwelcome queues' and 'unnecessary complications'.

Chunnel train company Eurostar said check-in times would be longer, adding expense for operators.

Privacy campaigners and travel groups also expressed alarm as the extent of the scheme was revealed.

AA president Edmund King called it 'a sad reflection of the times' and warned: 'Travellers will need to ensure that their passports are up to date and that details are input accurately if they don't want to end up in a dark room being grilled by border officials.' 

Phil Booth of privacy group NO2ID told the Telegraph: 'Especially given the Government's appalling record on looking after our data, it just doesn't seem sensible for it to pass details like this and sensitive financial information around.'
Tory Home Affairs spokesman Chris Grayling stopped short of condemning the e-borders scheme outright, saying authorities must record who exits and enters the UK.

However, he warned that the system as planned could prove 'unwieldy, impossible to manage and expensive to operate'.  continues here

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