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MP says his bags were packed by Bin Laden

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    MP says his bags were packed by Bin Laden

    MP says his bags were packed by Bin Laden, is violently ill on plane - and then sends letter of complaint to Virgin

    A senior MP on an official parliamentary trip was almost barred from a flight to the United States after telling check-in staff that Osama Bin Laden had packed his bags.

    Tory David Amess was allowed to travel on the Virgin Atlantic plane from Heathrow to Washington only after security officials confronted him and the captain had been asked whether he would let the MP on board.

    The flight also ended in chaotic scenes when Mr Amess was humiliatingly taken off the plane in a wheelchair after being violently sick.

    ...

    Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway defended his staff and told Mr Amess how his Bin Laden gaffe had sparked a security alert.

    Mr Ridgway told the MP that his journey ‘did not get off to the best of starts. Your comment at check-in that Osama Bin Laden had packed your bags was unwise. ...
    That Private Eye phrase "tired and emotional" comes to mind.
    Work in the public sector? Read the IR35 FAQ here

    #2
    Originally posted by OwlHoot View Post
    If a normal member of the public were to crack a joke about terrorism at a check-in time, they would

    a) Almost certainly be arrested
    b) Possibly be charged
    c) Definately not allowed to fly on that airplane at all (and no refund)
    d) Probably barred permanently from that airline

    There's a good reason for this. While it may be clear that it is "only a joke", if every other person was cracking jokes about terrorism through security, it would be much tougher for the security staff to weed out the jokers from those really intending harm.

    They should have thrown the book at him...

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by centurian View Post
      If a normal member of the public were to crack a joke about terrorism at a check-in time, they would

      a) Almost certainly be arrested
      b) Possibly be charged
      c) Definately not allowed to fly on that airplane at all (and no refund)
      d) Probably barred permanently from that airline

      There's a good reason for this. While it may be clear that it is "only a joke", if every other person was cracking jokes about terrorism through security, it would be much tougher for the security staff to weed out the jokers from those really intending harm.

      They should have thrown the book at him...
      Oh so real terrorists actually do get their bags packed by Osama, cool!

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by centurian View Post
        If a normal member of the public were to crack a joke about terrorism at a check-in time, they would

        a) Almost certainly be arrested
        b) Possibly be charged
        c) Definately not allowed to fly on that airplane at all (and no refund)
        d) Probably barred permanently from that airline

        There's a good reason for this. While it may be clear that it is "only a joke", if every other person was cracking jokes about terrorism through security, it would be much tougher for the security staff to weed out the jokers from those really intending harm.

        They should have thrown the book at him...
        No kidding.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Churchill View Post
          Oh so real terrorists actually do get their bags packed by Osama, cool!
          No - the real problem here is waste of time for extra security checks: they'd have to check that person in detail, joke or not, this means increase in time for others waiting to check in.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by AtW View Post
            No - the real problem here is waste of time for extra security checks: they'd have to check that person in detail, joke or not, this means increase in time for others waiting to check in.
            Are you seriously saying that they believed his bags really were packed by Osama?

            FFS.

            Comment


              #7
              [QUOTE=centurian;963229]if every other person was cracking jokes about terrorism through security, it would be much tougher for the security staff to weed out the jokers from those really intending harm.[QUOTE]

              Aye, a real terrorist is going to say "I have nothing to declare but my semtex".

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Churchill View Post
                Are you seriously saying that they believed his bags really were packed by Osama?
                No, but consider yourself being in that job - they have to take extra effort to be sure. It's bad enough if you let terrorist slip by, but if they were also joking etc, then it would be a million times worse.

                He is lucky he was not on the US side when he did this stupid joke.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by centurian View Post
                  if every other person was cracking jokes about terrorism through security, it would be much tougher for the security staff to weed out the jokers from those really intending harm.
                  I disagree. a terrorist would never make a joke. we should arrest those who don't joke about it......

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by BrilloPad View Post
                    I disagree. a terrorist would never make a joke. we should arrest those who don't joke about it......
                    Originally posted by minestrone View Post
                    Aye, a real terrorist is going to say "I have nothing to declare but my semtex".
                    Well, sometimes it's easier to hide a lie behind the truth.

                    Even so, the security staff will have to expend quite a bit of resources to double check. You can't seriously expect them to wave people through after they have admitted holding a bomb etc.

                    And this detracts them from the real threats.

                    Comment

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