Plane wrong

Yet, given the extent of the checks that passengers must submit themselves to before leaving the UK, there will be incredulity at the arsenal of weapons which have been detected in the arrivals hall at Robin Hood Airport near Doncaster. Even the fact that most of the flights concerned originated in eastern Europe offers no defence whatsoever. If the safety of the global airline industry is to be maintained at all times, there must be no exceptions to this – or terrorist groups, like al-Qaida, will exploit them ruthlessly.

It is why the scale of the seizures at Robin Hood Airport raises two fundamental questions. First, just how did a mother and her son manage to smuggle 14 lethal weapons into their luggage, including CS gas and knuckle dusters, and why were these not detected by the check-in scanners? And, secondly, what do people intend to do with their armoury after passing through customs in this country?

It's not just the individuals concerned who need to be prosecuted; security staff at every airport in the world clearly need to increase their vigilance to protect passengers from both terrorists and possible violent criminals.