Tory MP calls for tighter airport security during Olympics
A Conservative MP is calling for airport security to be tightened ahead of the Olympics after a reporter managed to leave and re-enter the UK without showing his passport.
The call from Patrick Mercer came just hours before it was revealed that an unaccompanied 11-year-old boy managed to slip past border guards at Manchester Airport and sneak on to a holiday flight to Italy.
The boy, who was travelling without a ticket or a passport, passed through the airport unnoticed to board the Jet2 flight and was only spotted midair when passengers became suspicious. Manchester Airport said it was carrying out an urgent investigation.
On Tuesday, BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Paul Greer revealed he flew from Shoreham Airport in East Sussex to Calais in France on a private jet without showing his passport.
He told the BBC he was not asked to show his passport when he left the UK or when he returned later the same day. The government issued a statement saying Greer and his fellow passengers’ paperwork had been checked and they identified as low risk.
Tory MP Patrick Mercer told the radio programme that, in the run up to the Olympics, it was essential security was tightened and that all passports were checked, even if it were not possible to do this at other times.
He said the air exclusion zone in place around southeat London and the Olympic Parks was not large enough.
You can listen to the BBC programme here
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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