BioSecurity

And another thing.

I forgot to tell you that when I got back into the port at Hull the customs guy gave me (and every other driver for that matter) a little interview to see where I had been and where I was going. It was all very conversational though.

I am not opposed to border checks. In a country as committed to international trade as we are, we need to be sure that we haven't got diseases or problems coming in. Personally I don't get too hung up about economic migrants coming in but it's nice to know who's here.

When you travel into New Zealand they take biosecurity very, very seriously indeed. You have to throw away any food and they x-ray your bags as you enter the country. I just told their customs officials that I was a marketing director the last time I visited New Zealand - I was worried that if I told them I was a farmer they might strip me down to my bra and knickers and spray me with Jeyes fluid.

The weird thing about our customs check was that he didn't ask me anything that could have possibly been of any use to him or our national interest. I have no objection to these checks but if they are not done thoroughly enough then they are just a waste of time. I wondered if I should tell him this but them I thought that he might give me a full cavity search in front of all the terrorists, illegal immigrants and rabies sufferers driving past just to make an example of me.