Local North West Euro MP and Chairman of the European Parliament's Transport Committee Brian Simpson has supported calls by the Chairman of British Airways, Martin Broughton, for a more reasonable approach to airport security so that passing through can be a more pleasurable experience.

"I cannot see any reason why passengers should take their shoes off or other items of clothing prior to going through the security scanner or indeed be forced to remove laptops from their containers", said Mr Simpson

"What is the purpose of asking people to do all of these things? If the machine goes off then fine but a lot of the time all that happens is passengers, particularly elderly passengers are greatly inconvenienced", Mr Simpson added.

The Labour MEP also supported Mr Broughton in his assertion that Britain always follows, to the letter, what America demands whilst other EU countries take a more measured view.

"We are supposed to follow guidelines laid down at an EU level but when America says jump the UK usually asks "how high?", which leads to a system of airport security which appears to the passenger to be purely arbitrary and inconsistent from one airport to another", said the Labour MEP.

Planned security measures by the American not only affects aviation. The USA is looking at screening every container that enters the country, which would be a logistical nightmare for ports like Liverpool and would raise costs to business considerably.

"What the UK government takes no account off, when at a moment's notice they insist on extra security measures, is who picks up the bill. In America all airport and seaport security is paid for by the Federal Government, whilst in Britain the cost is bourne by the industry. This puts our airlines, airports and seaports at a distinct disadvantage. I'm delighted that somebody as influential as Martin Broughton has had the courage to raise this issue. What is required is clarity and rules set at the EU level which guarantees aviation security without going completely over the top", said Mr Simpson.