The home secretary is to face questions from MPs following reports that staff at the UK Border Agency secretly relaxed identity checks on people arriving in the country this summer.

The head of the UK Border Force, Brodie Clark, has been suspended pending an independent inquiry.

Lucy Moreton, deputy secretary general of the Immigration Service Union, told the Today programme that staff were simply following orders, although it was not clear who gave them.

"It is certainly true that officers were told that they no longer needed to perform the detailed biometric checks," she said.

"They were told to do that by their managers on the day, who in turn were told by their managers, who were told by their managers.

"Whether ministerial authority was obtained, whether the minister was aware or not we simply don't know. She says that she was not."

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