U.K. background checks of airport employees lax

at all. It seems pretty simple to us. If it’s good enough for pilots it should be good enough for anyone else that’s working airside. These checks need to be carried out on everyone.”

The Department for Transport said the government would consider introducing checks on foreign criminal records as part of the transport review. Any action to close the loophole would wait for the outcome of the inquiry. A spokesman said the terrorist threat to aviation from airside workers is “fundamentally addressed by physical security measures, for all staff, every day.” He added: “In addition to physical security, we run a counter-terrorist check, which is far more detailed than a criminal record check, for all airside workers engaged in security roles. We do, in addition, require U.K. criminal records checks to be run on all other airside pass holders. Criminal records from other countries are of a different nature. “Our regime includes instead the requirement for a five year background check on all airside workers.” The DfT said from 2009, new biometric ID cards would be introduced for people who work airside in the country’s airports, “allowing an individual to be linked more securely to their own true identity, helping protect against crime, illegal immigration and terrorism.”

Aviation Minister Jim Fitzpatrick has defended vetting procedures for staff. “Anybody who is able to work in a restricted zone is screened in exactly the same thorough way as any member of the public,” he told Newsnight. Under repeated questioning, Fitzpatrick insisted the United Kingdom was not “complacent in the face of terrorism. What we are able to do is to demonstrate that anybody who is able to work in a restricted zone is screened in exactly the same thorough way as any member of the public who is traveling through our airports, and in that instance we are very confident and are safe in the knowledge that they do not pose a threat.” Not everyone shares that confidence. The Conservatives’ David Davis demanded urgent action from the government. “To not do anything about it because it’s inconvenient, it’s a disgrace,” he said. “They should immediately carry out security checks on all people currently working airside. Anybody who fails should be removed and before anybody else is employed, those security checks should be completed. And they should do that irrespective of cost and as fast as can be done - otherwise it’s worse than complacent; it’s reckless.” He said it was “astonishing given the history and, of course, the risk on the airside of any airport in the United Kingdom” that checks were not taking place.