BBC's article includes:
The committee heard from security experts that the resulting queues presented a significant security threat.
Prof Alan Hatcher, principal of the International School for Security and Explosives Education, said that with bags not being searched when people entered a terminal he was concerned that queues of hundreds of people were effectively creating new targets.
The BBC report doesn't seem to me to get to the heart of the issue. As I read this, the issue is about reducing the risk by having the first level of bag and passenger screening at the terminal entrance, as is done in many countries. The risk of greater numbers of casualties is reduced as the checks at the terminal entrance tend not to have such concentrations of people in one place as are found in check-in and screening areas inside the terminal.
In the context of the Glasgow attack, the above is understandable, however, just how far does society go with the issue of security? Do we extend this thinking to the underground, football matches- where do we stop?
The climate of fear these reports generate is perhaps worse than the risk itself.
Last edited by no sig; 26th Jul 2007 at 10:51.