Government accused over passport checks failure

8.49.38pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 9th Jul 2007

The UK government has defended itself against claims by Interpol's head that it is failing to check visitors against a database of stolen passports. Ronald K Noble, the police agency's chief, said there was a "clear link between stolen passports and al-Qaeda linked terrorist activity". Mr Noble told the BBC: "The UK's anti-terrorist effort is in the wrong century."

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesperson "Clearly an urgent review is required, not only of the information extracted between the intelligence services and major employers such as the NHS, but also between intelligence agencies around the world and global crime-fighting agencies such as Interpol. Much of this data exchange will need to take place through the European Union."