Anglotopia

Traveling to and from Britain is going to be a lot more challenging very quickly, thanks to the so called ‘crotchbomber’ – the fellow that thought it would be a good idea to try and blow up his underpants on Christmas day.

A new terror threat means new security procedures to punish us all – all to give us a false sense of security.

What’s in store for travelers to and from the UK?

Well, the big news today was that Britain plans to install those privacy busting full body scanners – which, by the way, would not have foiled the crotchbomber.

From the Telegraph yesterday:

New full-body scanners are already being ordered by the British Airports Authority, the prime minister said this morning as he outlined a new regime of tightened airport security.

Speaking on BBC One’s Andrew Marr programme, Gordon Brown pre-empted the findings of his own review by saying future passengers must expect to be scanned by the controversial scanners. The devices have received mixed appraisals on whether they are suitable to detect the new type of explosive that 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of using in an attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.

BAA, which operates six British airports, said today it would move quickly to install full-body scanners at London’s Heathrow.

“Now that the government has given the go-ahead, we will introduce full-body scanners as soon as practical,” a spokesman for BAA told Reuters. He said BAA was just looking at introducing the scanners at Heathrow – Europe’s busiest airport by passenger numbers – at this stage.

A government source has told the Guardian that passenger profiling and the purchase of more scanners are highly likely to be among the review’s recommendations and that the government will install the scanners “with or without” the international co-operation it had said it needed in the aftermath of the attempted terror attack.

The American Transport Security Administration (TSA) has also updated it’s security procedures and new airport security procedures include:

100% of passengers flying to the United States from a country on a “state sponsor of terrorism” list will be patted down, and will receive enhanced luggage screening.

Passengers from Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen will be added to a list of “countries of interest” and will also receive additional screening.

Passengers from all international airports will receive random enhanced screening. This could be a pat-down or screening through advanced imagers (whole body imaging), explosives puffers or other equipment.

Thanks to Gadling for pointing us to this new info.

It really is a shame that is has come to this – racial profiling with a new name. Let’s at least hope that it will make us safer.

Our friends at British Airways have also posted an update to their security procedures.

From the British Airways website:

The United States government has revised its security arrangements for all customers travelling into the US.

Only one item of hand luggage is allowed for all passengers travelling to the US from Heathrow, Gatwick or London City. This applies to passengers whose journey originates in London, as well as those who are transferring flights. They are advised to check-in as normal.

Passengers travelling to destinations outside the United States or from the United States are not affected.

I’m certainly not looking forward to my next experience going through airport security when I travel to London next. I am really not okay with the full body scanners.

Such is the price of freedom. I guess.