Hundreds of military police officers used to man passport desks She told Sky News: "It shouldn't be beyond the Home Secretary to make sure that the borders force can both institute proper checks, and not have the downgrade of security checks that we had last summer that put security at risk, but also to make sure that passengers are not having to wait for such long periods. The eyes of the world are upon us with the Olympics coming. I really think that the Home Secretary has to get out very quickly with some answers about why this has been allowed to happen at such an important time for our country. It has previously been reported that military police officers were being used to provide cover when immigration officers went on strike. But figures provided in a Parliamentary written answer disclose the extent to which they are being used on a regular basis. Andrew Robatham, a defence minister, said: "There were 227 Ministry of Defence police officers deployed in support of the UK Border Force passport control at British airports since November 2011. The largest number of officers deployed at airports on a single day was 92. The military police officers have been posted to Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, Glasgow, Newcastle, Southend, Bristol, Stansted, Southampton, Leeds/Bradford, Luton, Edinburgh, East Midlands, Birmingham and Bournemouth airports "on irregular occasions in support of the UK Border Force." Asked if senior ministers had discussed the deployment, Mr Robathan suggested the matter had been left to civil servants. He said: "The Permanent Secretary has discussed the issue of Ministry of Defence Police support to the UK Border Force on a number of occasions with her counterpart at the Home Department." It was also disclosed that to cover European desks, the officers undergo a three-day "classroom module" and desks followed by mentoring. To cover non-EU desks, they must undergo a further four days" training before passing an exam. Lucy Moreton of the Immigration Services Union said although she had nothing against MoD police in general, all contingency staff are at risk of making mistakes because of their lack of experience and full training. "There are significant mistakes being made by contingency staff," she said.