MP hits out as airport security fails to spot knife in her hand luggage

Former Health Minister Gisela Stuart also accused BAA of ‘extraordinary complacency’ for not responding to her repeated warnings that the security system at Gatwick had not picked up the knife in her hand luggage as she flew out  early on Sunday, August 3, for a two-week holiday in Corsica with friends.

Ms Stuart, who discovered the knife when she arrived in Corsica, said: ‘It was my mistake. I forgot the knife was there.

Shocked: Gisela Stuart took a knife on to a plane by accident after airport security failed to spot it in her hand luggage

'I had a big bag, which I normally use for shopping, and it never occurred to me it was there in a side pocket.

‘However, the fact that it got through undetected is appalling. We’re asking people to turn up two hours early for flights, the Government is investing in iris scanners and fingerprint scanners to check identities and you’re not even allowed to take a bottle of baby milk through check-in.

'And then the very people charged with implementing these scans fail to spot a 3in knife.’

But, according to the Birmingham MP, what followed after she alerted BAA the next day was even worse.

An email from her office manager to Gatwick executives spelt out her ‘serious concerns about security at the airport’ and called for an investigation into what had happened.

But in spite of repeated emails and phone calls, Ms Stuart said she had still not received a proper reply by the time she returned from holiday.

After further protests, the MP finally received a letter last Monday from BAA Gatwick commercial director Mike Luddy, who claimed an investigation had been carried out following her earlier emails.

But he asked her to give him the time she passed through security, even though her office had told BAA officials nearly two weeks ago that it was about 3.30am.

Mr Luddy also requested a photograph of the MP ‘in order that we can try to identify the security officer’ who had been monitoring the scanning equipment.

In several statements to The Mail on Sunday, BAA said that the entire security team on duty at the time had been taken off duty for retraining.

And a spokeswoman said an apology had been sent to Ms Stuart for BAA’s failure to inform her that they had started an investigation into the incident. ‘Our service to Ms Stuart was poor and we have apologised to her.’

However, Ms Stuart said last night that it had taken almost three weeks to persuade BAA this was a ‘security issue, not a public relations one’.