Sky marshals on UK flights
Sky marshals are to be deployed on UK commercial flights in light of the heightened terror threat in the US, the Government said yesterday.
But plans to deploy undercover security guards – -co-signed by the Home Office and department of Transport – were criticised by union, the British Airline Pilots Association, which said it would back members who refused to fly with marshals onboard.
Jim McAuslan, general secretary of Balpa, said: “We believe this will do more harm than good.”
The news comes as the Foreign Office warned Brits in Saudi Arabia last night to remain vigilant in the face of a possible terror attack.
The FO said terrorists could be in the “final stages of preparation.”
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said yesterday sky marshalls would be deployed where “appropriate.”
The sky marshals will carry low-velocity ammunition onboard aircraft so as to not break through the fuselage.
A joint statement by the Home Office and DoT read: “In response to the present heightened state of alert in the USA, additional security measures on the ground and in the air have been put in place for UK airlines operations in the USA.
“This is judged a responsible and prudent step at the present time, but the continuing need for these measures will be kept under review.”
Home Secretary David Blunkett defended the controversial plans in a statement broadcast on BBC News on Sunday.
He said the move was an ‘appropriate’ response to the growing threat of terrorist attacks.
“What we are proposing is a proportionate and appropriate level of response, at a time when the threat to both our countries and around the world remains real and serious.”
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Jonathan Dimbleby’ on Sunday, Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, said the ‘global war’ on terrorism would be a prolonged one.
“This was always going to be a long war against terrorism. Nobody ever said it was going to be short.
“It is a global war. It rages from the Philippines to Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and now of course to Iraq.
“It isn’t going to be over in weeks. It may take years.
“It may even take decades.
“But we will stick at it until we win it, just as we stuck at the war against Communism and won that war. It took half a century.”
