"TUBE SCANNERS WILL BE A COST TOO FAR FOR RACIAL TENSIONS IN LONDON" - POPE

9.51.15am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 17th May 2006

Liberal Democrat Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Geoff Pope, will question the Mayor today about the introduction of body scanners in tube stations and their impact on racial tensions in the capital.

The latest British Transport Police (BTP) figures show that Asian and black men are five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people but only 1.2% of stop and searches lead to an arrest.

Commenting, Geoff Pope said:

"The Mayor has chosen to bring in random searches at Tube stations using body scanners. The introduction of these extra stop and search points may well prove a cost too far for racial tensions in London.

"Figures show that the police are more likely to stop young Asian men with rucksacks than elderly white ladies. They will only be able to stop relatively few people so the chances of finding a terrorist are pretty small. But the anger this will cause in the black and Asian community risks acting as a recruiting sergeant for terrorism.

'In the USA, the Washington subway has brought in equipment to detect chemical attacks. This could save lives in attacks like the sarin outrage in Tokyo as an evacuation could be called immediately - but it has the benefit of not discriminating on racial grounds.

'The Mayor needs to think hard about which measures will really make Londoners safer in the long run."

ENDS