Met Police looking to charge LCY for security
Article on TV news this evening that the Met Police are looking to charge London City Airport (and thus, through its fees, its users) for the policing costs that are incurred for providing police cover at the airport.
London City should rebut this in the strongest possible terms.
1. All of us, as taxpayers, have ALREADY paid for our national police services and should not, through airport charges or other means, have to pay for this again.
2. The perceived threat is against UK prominent installations as a whole and is nothing that air travellers have brought on themselves. As a comparison there is a substantial police security presence at Buckingham Palace for the same reason. the Royal Family are not expected to pay for this.
3. The police presence at London City is nowadays grossly over the top. I am not encouraged at all by hordes of scowling machine-gun toting officers swaggering about the terminal swinging their guns in my direction, this can do no good at all, whenever did machine-gun armed officers ever achieve anything ? For women and children it makes them frightened, the very opposite effect to what should be achieved. It is not effective policing though doubtless it is all very expensive. Well, if the police want to perform tasks I feel are inappropriate I guess they have the right to do so, just don't expect those of us who are airport users to pay for these activities.