The Border Force - A cheap & cheerful solution

There is a cheap and cheerful solution to our currently over stretched border force - paid volunteers.

Just as we rely increasingly on a paid volunteer Reserve Army and in rural Britain we rely on a paid volunteer Fire Brigade why not have a paid part time volunteer Border Force?  But let's take this simple idea a little further though - why not let the volunteers provide the means as well as the muscle-I mean of course fast offshore boats and surveillance aircraft.

This is not a new concept. Once volunteer cavalry, the Yeomanry, all had their own horses which the government fed and paid for when on service while in both World Wars private boats where pressed into service with their owners as often as not as skippers. Tied up in virtually every small harbour along the South Coast are fast offshore boats like Ribs idling around doing nothing. Many of their owners would love the chance to put them through their paces 'for real' and the same goes for the fleet of private aircraft sitting around airfields up and down the land.

With just a little Vim & Vigour on the behalf of government such a volunteer force could be up and running in months. The government would provide the necessary communication and surveillance equipment for the boats and aircraft and pay for the fuel.  Volunteers would be formed into units centred on individual ports and airfields and each unit would have a full times professional running the show. I know of course that the BBC, The Guardian etc. would have field day at mocking a 'Dads Army' Border force.  Well I say - better a Dad's Army Border Force than virtually no Border Force -which is the case at the moment.