London mayor’s unease over airport security

The mayor of London Ken Livingstone has reportedly revealed his “deep unease” at the security provision – or lack of it – at Britain’s airports. The Daily Telegraph quotes the mayor as saying: “One of my criticisms of the Immigration Service into Britain and the Customs Service is just how little there is in the way of detailed checking. Anybody who has visited Australia, where virtually all your baggage is checked, would be much more reassured.” Livingstone, who, the newspaper points out is backing London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, claims that he has only been stopped by British officials twice in 40 years. He reportedly said: “One of those was as a student with a large, suspicious rucksack, which they thought might be full of drugs; it actually contained a number of frogs for my natural history collection.” The other time, he reportedly added, was when he opted to go through the “goods to declare” channel because he had a bottle of brandy that took him over the import limit. The customs officer reportedly told him: “It will take hours to do the paperwork, just go on through.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd