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Axe these useless air terror checks: BA chief tells Yanks to sort out security | Daily Star Martin Broughton said the UK must stop bowing to America’s never-ending demands

Chairman Martin Broughton said the UK must stop bowing to America’s never-ending demands to beef up security.[>


He said it was ridiculous people had to take their shoes off and have their laptops checked separately.[>




And he said Americans did not carry out anywhere near as many checks on their own internal flights. [>


Speaking at an airline conference in London, he said: “America does not do internally a lot of the things they demand that we do. We shouldn’t stand for that.[>

“We should say: ‘We’ll only do things which we consider to be essential and that you Americans also consider essential.’


“We all know there are a number of elements in the security programme that are completely redundant and should be sorted out.”[>


The US introduced tougher security measures, such as pat-down body searches and hand-luggage checks, in January following an alleged bomb plot.[>


Mr Broughton added: “Take the iPad, they still haven’t decided if it is a laptop or it isn’t a laptop.[>


“So some airports think you should take it out and some think you shouldn’t.”[>


Mike Carrivick, chief executive of BAR UK, which represents more than 80 UK airlines, backed the call. [>


He said: “Every time there is a new security scare, an extra layer is added to procedure. [>


“We need to step back and look at the situation.”[>


And former security minister Lord West said it was up to the Government to take the lead in securing a worldwide agreement on airport security.[>