This Government's tendency to steal policies from other parties knows no bounds.

Less than a year after dismissing the Conservative election pledge to form a national border police force, the Government has apparently decided it was a good idea after all.

I sincerely hope the Home Secretary follows this plan through.

It is the least his department can do after cutting front-line customs officers from ports such as Newhaven and replacing them with painfully ineffective "honesty hotlines".

All parties of Brighton and Hove City Council supported my notice of motion condemning this decision.

Four years ago, an independent report headed by Lord Carlisle described ports such as Newhaven as "the soft underbelly of policing", being havens through which terrorists and drugs can pass without much trouble.

The Government's U-turn should allow officers to return to these ports and police them effectively with the appropriate support.

-Councillor Lynda Hyde, Conservative Member, Rottingdean Coastal Ward, Brighton and Hove City Council