Government rules out airport-style security scanners at train stations following stabbing attack

The transport caput has ruled retired installing airport-style information scanners successful stations, pursuing an alleged stabbing onslaught connected a bid connected Saturday evening.

Speaking to Mornings with Ridge and Frost connected Sky News connected Monday, Heidi Alexander said the authorities did not privation to marque "life intolerable for everyone".

Chris Philp, the Conservative shadiness location secretary, has called for "tough and extremist action" to tackle weapon crime, including rolling retired unrecorded facial designation exertion successful municipality centres and bid stations.

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The questions astir information connected nationalist transport comes aft 10 radical were injured successful an alleged wide stabbing onslaught connected a high-speed bid connected Saturday, and a bid unit subordinate - hailed arsenic a leader for confronting the attacker - remains successful a captious but unchangeable condition.

A 32-year-old antheral from Peterborough has been charged with 11 counts of attempted murder pursuing the onslaught connected the Doncaster to London King's Cross LNER work adjacent Huntingdon, and different astatine a presumption connected London's Docklands Light Railway (DLR), aboriginal connected Saturday morning.

Asked by Mornings presenter Sophy Ridge if airport-style scanners should beryllium installed astatine railway stations to guarantee nationalist information connected trains, the transport caput replied: "I don't deliberation airport-style scanners would beryllium the mode to go.

"I recognize wherefore you asked the question, and I recognize wherefore immoderate of your viewers mightiness beryllium wondering astir that.

"We person thousands of railway stations crossed the UK, and those stations person aggregate entrances, aggregate platforms. So what we can't bash is marque beingness intolerable for everyone.

"But we bash request to instrumentality sensible and proportionate steps to marque the nationalist transport web safe."

She besides said determination volition beryllium accrued "visible" constabulary patrols astatine bid stations for "the adjacent fewer days" to supply reassurance to the travelling public.

Ms Alexander went connected to accidental that, portion she does not privation to minimise the "horrific" onslaught connected Saturday, the trains successful the UK are "some of the astir safest [sic] forms of nationalist transport anyplace successful the world", saying that for each cardinal journeys, determination are 27 crimes committed.

She added: "For me, 1 transgression is 1 transgression excessively many. So we will, aft this, reappraisal each of our information measures, due to the fact that that is the close happening to do."

But Conservative shadiness location caput Chris Philp told Mornings with Ridge and Frost that determination needs to beryllium much "surge hotspot policing successful precocious transgression areas" to tackle weapon crime, and the usage of "live facial designation to place wanted criminals arsenic they rotation round, including arsenic they spell to bid stations, truthful they tin beryllium arrested".

"We besides request much halt and hunt arsenic good due to the fact that halt and hunt takes knives disconnected the streets," helium added.

Last week, the authorities released caller information showing that weapon homicides person fallen by 18% successful a year, portion weapon transgression wide has dropped by 5% - the archetypal simplification successful 4 years.

The Home Office attributed that to the usage of hotspot patrols, weapon arches that tin observe knives successful environments similar schools, drones, and plain apparel officers, arsenic good arsenic partnerships with campaigners and charities.