Security measures must be improved, Phillip Hammond warns

Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has announced if the Russian plane crash is proved to be a terror attack, Britain will demand better security is areas where Islamic State is active.

In the wake of the Russian plane crash, where British flights were subsequently grounded after CCTV images at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport revealed alarming lapses in security, airports around the world are being told to elevate their security to British standards.

The crash claimed the lives of 224 people and Hammond has warned that British travellers could face longer delays at airports in the future, if the disaster is proved to be a terrorist attack.

The Foreign Secretary’s comments have caused airlines to increase vigilance as they continue to adjust to the prospect of complex negotiations with airport operators to keep routes safe and open.

Hammond said: “If this turns out to be a device planted by an ISIL operative or by somebody inspired by ISIL then clearly we will have to look again at the level of security we expect to see in airports in areas where ISIL is active.

"What we have got to do is ensure that airport security everywhere is at the level of the best and that airport security reflects the local conditions and where there is a higher local threat level that will mean higher levels of security are required.

"That may mean additional costs, it may mean additional delays at airports as people check in."

So far, Hammond has commented that the evidence indicates the involvement of an explosive device is ‘more likely than not’. Furthermore, he informed that those British tourists currently stranded in Sharm el-Sheik will face a delay of ‘at most two or three days’.

Returning tourists have criticised the security at Egyptian airports, labelling it ‘terrible’ and citing examples where bottles where carried through departure gates and instances where security guards failed to examine car boots.

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, the former independent reviewer of anti-terror laws, said: "There needs to be international attention to good airport security.
"Plainly, some places are less safe than others."

Professor Anthony Glees, director Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, the University of Buckingham, said: “British tourists will have to face a stark choice between either not going on holiday because of unacceptable risk or demanding that British standards of security apply on these planes, particularly in Arab north Africa.

“It’s a real headache. These countries are going to have to deliver these higher standards of security if they want British, European and American holidaymakers to go – because we are seeing tourists specifically targeted.”

He added: “There are serious questions about security in Egypt and elsewhere.

“They need proper background checks on airport workers and physical security checks on everyone and everything going into their airports, like we have in Britain."