The e-Borders initiative

This really rather puzzles me:

Anyone departing the UK by land, sea or air will have their trip recorded and stored on a database for a decade.

Passengers leaving every international sea port, station or airport will have to supply detailed personal information as well as their travel plans…….. Even swimmers attempting to cross the Channel and their support teams will be subject to the rules which will require the provision of travellers’ personal information such as passport and credit card details, home and email addresses and exact travel plans.

A fairly terrible idea I think you’ll agree?

For where we go, as and when we wish to, is no business of the government’s at all. We are still a free people are we not?

What we all actually want is that the government check those coming into the country, to ensure that they have the right to do so.

But, typically for a government, they’re implementing something hugely expensive and intrusive which doesn’t in fact address the desired problem. What use is checking those going out, spying upon us all, instead of checking upon those coming in?