Sharpen The Blade: Terrorist Free or Duty Free?

Kerron Cross sharpens the blade and takes Slasher Redwood to task over his rose-tinted-spectacles, jumpers-for-goalposts, and the priceless dads-whittling-toys-and-whistles-for-children-from-twigs-on-a-day-out.

Kerron ends with a tale of a picnic basket which makes its way through tough security at Wombledon in 2002 with its full complement of picnic knives still on board. Less than a year after 11 September 2001.

As it goes I took a series of flights to Melbourne just a couple of weeks after that fateful day. We were searched getting on at Manchester. We were searched getting off at Brussels and again gettiing back on to the very same (hugely searched) plane.

The same applied again at the Singapore hub. Though in Melbourne they were more interested in any traces of rural matter on our footwear. All the while meals were served with plastic eating 'irons' and 'glasses'.

Now I didn't try to carry on any nail clippers, scissors, whittling knives or the like. But I could I think have carried on smoking materials, and certainly duty free spirits in glass bottles. The makings of a molotov cocktail or failing that a handy broken bottle.

Either they hadn't thought it through; or, more likely, Duty Free profits trump airline security every time.