Fears over security for London 2012
EU and Nato help should be called upon to boost security at the London 2012 Olympics, an influential group of peers has said. Skip related content
Lord Jopling, chairman of the European Union committee, urged the Government to begin talks with the EU Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) civil protection unit "as a matter of urgency", and expressed "surprise" that this has not already been taken in hand.
"It is increasingly clear that the 2012 Olympics could be a prime target for terrorists and it is vital the Government takes every possible step to ensure other EU member states are fully prepared to assist the UK in the case of a potential attack," he said.
Speaking as the committee published its report into crisis management in the EU, he added: "The lack of co-operation between the EU and Nato is especially worrying in the area of civil protection and crisis management, where there is virtually no contact between the bodies involved. This cannot be allowed to continue.
"We hope Nato's 60th anniversary summit next month will be an opportunity to remedy this."
The MIC has long-standing experience of putting European teams on standby for large sporting events.
Portugal asked for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear decontamination teams to be kept on standby during the Euro 2004 football championships. The teams were kept on alert in their own countries but were ready to travel quickly should the need arise.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has pledged to keep to a £600 million security budget for the 2012 Games and said there are no plans to draw on a £238 million reserve.
The committee noted that a lot of public interest had been focused around security for the Olympic Park in east London, but not much had been heard about the five host boroughs which "seem to us to be at least as vulnerable".
The peers said they had concerns over the need to reassure local communities that appropriate action is being and would be taken.
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