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Grayling denies UK laptop ban is due to lax airport security

Chris Grayling
Chris Grayling: ‘This is not a vote of no confidence in the security measures in any other country.’ Photograph: PA

The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has denied that the UK’s decision to impose a cabin baggage ban on laptops and other electronic devices on flights from eight countries meant their airport security was lax.

On Tuesday, the UK and US governments announced sweeping cabin bans on laptops and tablets, though different in scope. The UK has banned the items on flights from six countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, with UK airlines including British Airways and EasyJet among those affected. The Department for Transport has said the ban must be implemented by Saturday.

The US ban applies to “anything larger than a smartphone” whereas the UK regulations give specific dimensions. The US ban applies to nine Middle Eastern, north African and Turkish airlines, flying from 10 specific airports.

Answering an urgent question from the Labour MP Gavin Shuker, Grayling said the decision had been made because of the “evolving threat” and after liaising with the US. Grayling said there had also been conversations with French and German partners.

Grayling said he hoped the measures would be temporary but gave no end date, saying the changes were “necessary at this particular time”.

Tourists should not cancel their holidays, he said. “There is no change to FCO travel advice, this is purely about making sure that when they do travel they are safe,” he added.

The Scottish National party MP Alan Brown said the government was in effect saying “by default” that it did not trust the airport security in the countries affected.

Grayling insisted that was not the case. “Let me be absolutely clear, this is not a vote of no confidence in the security measures in any other country,” he said. “I do not want this to be seen as a thumbs down to any of the security measures in any other country.

“The safety and security of the travelling public will always be our paramount concern.” He refused to go into specifics of the threat or explain why devices would be safe to carry in the hold of aircraft. Rules will apply to transfer passengers changing in those countries, he added.

“We have explained this decision at all levels to partners in the region and spoken to European partners such as Germany and France with specific interests in aviation whose travellers and carriers may be affected,” Grayling said.

“We will do everything we can to minimise the disruption to people’s journeys. We do understand the frustration this may cause. I know the whole house will recognise that we face a constantly evolving threat. The changes we are making are an important part of that process.”

Questioned by MPs whether passengers might face additional charges for placing devices in the hold of aircraft, Grayling said the DfT had been liaising with airlines to make it clear passengers should not be penalised but said ultimately the organisation of how to enforce the new restrictions was a matter for airlines.

Grayling also said he would be writing to the Association of British Insurers about potential travel insurance clauses that do not cover electronic devices placed in hold luggage. He said he would ask insurers to be “mindful of this specific issue … and realistic about this going forward”.

The cabinet minister said he would give no further detail about why decisions on the specifics of the restrictions had been taken, despite questions raised by MPs and technical experts about why the distinctions had been made between hand and hold luggage and the differences between the UK and US advice.

“The background to every decision we take of this kind is not based on matters we can put automatically into the public arena,” he said. “I understand the desire for information, we take decisions as it is necessary to do. The US will take its decisions about its citizens. We do not always have to take exactly the same decisions. We have done what we think is right for our citizens.”

On Tuesday, the US Department for Homeland Security said the move came after “evaluated intelligence” of a terror threat. Canada’s transportation minister said on Tuesday that it was considering similar prohibitions and UK government sources suggested European governments were also looking at the issue.

Countries affected by the ban have expressed outrage at the regulation, including the Turkish ambassador to Washington, Serdar Kılıç who described the US and UK moves as unacceptable and impractical.

EasyJet was one of the first airlines to put the ban into effect on Wednesday on flights from Turkey and Egypt to the UK. A spokeswoman for the airline recommended that passengers do not bring large personal electronic devices if possible and encouraged customers to check in their hand luggage.

A spokeswoman for Thomson and First Choice said the ban would affect customers travelling back to the UK from Egypt and Turkey, with the first affected flight early next week. Monarch said its first impacted flight was on 29 April.

Emirates appeared to shrug off the US ban with a humorous tweet asking “who needs tablets and laptops anyway?”

Matthew Finn, the managing director of aviation security consultancy firm Augmentiq, questioned why the rules only applied to some flights.

He said: “If there is indeed reliable intelligence of a credible threat that an improvised explosive device can be concealed within a consumer electronic device, then the question has to be, how do we mitigate that risk for all aircraft leaving all destinations right across the board?”

Chris Phillips, a counter-terrorism expert and former police officer, said he believed the ban was proportionate. “This is obviously intel-led,” he said. “Not all airports attain the same levels of security. There has always been the desire to attack aviation, but clearly there is also the capability to do this form of attack on certain places.”

France’s transport ministry said it was an issue it was looking into and it was consulting various organisations, notably the intelligence and security agencies, to evaluate the risk.

Libération quotes French intelligence sources as saying they are aware of reports that “al-Qaida, particularly in the Arab peninsular and even more particularly the group’s branch in Yemen, are working on the technique [of introducing explosives into computer batteries] … The government has asked the DGSE [French exterior intelligence service] to give its recommendation.”

Experts say bags in French airports are passed through EDS (explosives detection systems) . If the machine signals a risk, it shows up on the screen. If there is considered to be a significant risk, the bag is put through a more sensitive machine called a tomograph. Italy is also understood to be considering a similar ban, whereas in Spain it was not on the table.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish interior ministry said there had been no change regarding its policies on passengers from some Middle Eastern and North African countries using tablets or laptops in the cabin.

“If there had been a change, we would have let people know,” she said. Asked if a such ban was being considered, she added: “There’s nothing new coming from Spain.”

Additional reporting by Sam Jones in Madrid and Kim Wilsher in Paris