The Commonwealth Games are taken seriously as a political event by the SNP

British hospitality: Commonwealth Games athletes will be tracked to make sure they leave

British hospitality: Commonwealth Games athletes will be tracked to make sure they leave

Athletes arriving in Britain for the Commonwealth games will be tracked by authorities to make sure they leave the country "within their permitted time limits".

Home Office minister Karen Bradley said "arrangements" were in place to make sure athletes from the 71 countries attending the Games returned home after the event.

She made the comment in response to a parliamentary question from Conservative MP Philip Davies, who asked what the UK was doing to ensure athletes did not stay on illegally in the UK after the Games.

"The rigorous accreditation process that contributed to the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 has also been central to our preparations for Glasgow 2014," she replied.

"To minimise attempts to abuse our hospitality after the Games have ended, comprehensive record checks on all Commonwealth Games participants and Games family members are conducted before they are cleared to enter the UK.

"We have also introduced arrangements to confirm that people given Commonwealth Games clearance have left the UK within their permitted time limits."

The Games, which start on July 23rd, are being embraced by Alex Salmond as a way to boost Scottish national confidence ahead of the referendum in September.

But the build-up to the event has been low key and there was a setback yesterday when the Scottish opening ceremony uniform was unveiled to a mocking response on Twitter.