HC Deb 24 March 1949 vol 463 c543
32. Mr. John E. Haire

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why passports are still required for travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Mr. Ede

Passports or other documents of identity are required to enable the entry of aliens into Great Britain through Eire and Northern Ireland to be adequately controlled.

Mr. Haire

Is not Northern Ireland still an integral part of Great Britain like Scotland and Wales, and is there not National Registration there? Why should British subjects moving from one part of the United Kingdom to the other be put to this inconvenience for the sake of a few aliens?

Mr. Ede

It is very necessary at the present time to control the entry of aliens, and there is a land border 180 miles long between Eire and Northern Ireland which it is quite impossible to control for that purpose.