Labour: Give more to Scotland for Olympic air security costs

WESTMINSTER should provide additional funding to Strathclyde Police to meet the costs of planes, under threat from terrorism, being diverted to a Glasgow airport while the Olympic Games are held in London.

Chief Constable Stephen House is planning to put a specialist, round-the-clock police presence at Prestwick airport, at a cost expected to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran said: “It is not fair that an additional cost lands on Strathclyde Police for operations they may need to mount and the preparations they need to make.

“This is exactly the type of situation that the Scottish Secretary [Michael Moore] should be sorting out. He is meant to be Scotland’s man in the Cabinet.”

“The vast majority of Scots want the Olympics to be a resounding success and I think they will be, but it is important that the costs are properly spread out and Scottish police forces aren’t short changed.”