Security at small ports and airfields to be reviewed

Security Minister John Hayes has voiced concerns that keeping tight control of arrivals at a myriad of small airfields, in addition to Britain’s thousands of miles of coastline, will be a ‘significant challenge’.

Hayes told the Home Affairs Select Committee: “In the small airports and small ports there is a really significant challenge. We have initiated a fresh piece of work on smaller ports and airports, because we share your concern. This is urgent work.

“What Paris showed us is what happens if people have access to automatic weapons. We are looking at the issue of firearms. We are looking at how we can identify existing firearms and how they can be put out of action here and on a Europe-wide basis.”

Charles Farr, the director general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism at the Home Office, also added that the police’s ‘capabilities and capacity’ were being reviewed.

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