Gordon Brown orders urgent airport security review
31.12.09
The UK will ‘move quickly’ to enhance airport security after the ‘wake-up call’ of the failed Detroit plane attack, Prime Minister
Gordon Brown said. He had ordered a review of existing security measures, and advisers will report within days. Full-body scanners would be among the new technologies considered..
Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a flight as it came in to land in Detroit on Christmas Day. The 23-year-old allegedly attempted to ignite explosives stored in his underpants. He had flown from Lagos to Amsterdam before changing planes for a flight to Detroit.
In a post on the Downing Street website today, Mr Brown said the attack had been ‘another wake-up call for the ongoing battles we must wage, not just for security against terror but for the hearts and minds of a generation’. He said he had ordered the review of measures, including those for transit passengers, on Monday.
The attempted bomb attack has reopened the debate on body scanners, which produce ‘naked’ images of passengers and are being trialled at Manchester Airport. Unlike the metal detectors currently used at British airports, the scanners can see through clothes and project an image of the passenger's body on to a screen. But their use has been controversial, with privacy campaigners and politicians complaining they infringe human rights.
The Prime Minister said: ‘We need to explore the most sophisticated devices capable of identifying explosives, guns, knives and other such items anywhere on the body. We will examine a range of new techniques to enhance airport security systems beyond the traditional measures, such as pat-down searches and sniffer dogs. These could include advancing our use of explosive trace technology, full-body scanners and advanced X-ray technology.’
Full-body scanners cost at least £100,000 each, with some reports suggesting that Heathrow alone would need 25 just for US bound passengers. The Dutch government has already announced it will introduce full-body scanners for all flights to the US. A spokeswoman for airport operator BAA said: ‘The introduction of full-body scanners would require a change in European legislation. The European Commission is meeting member states next week, and we will watch the outcome of those discussions closely and respond accordingly.’
To book heathrow airport hotel or heathrow airport car park at the lowest price,
click on these links to two great heathrow airport car parking
and
heathrow
airport hotel
price comparison page
