NEWS The Liberal Democrats have called for a rethink of plans to make mobile phones work on the Tube following the London bombings earlier this month.
The Lib Dem members of the Greater London Assembly claim mobiles will pose a risk to the transport system as they can be used to detonate bombs remotely.
The Madrid train bombing saw mobiles used as detonators, although it was the phones' alarm functions and not any wireless signal which was used to set off the explosives.
Transport for London, however, will not be conducting a review and is continuing with plans to equip the London Underground network with mobile transmitters.
The Lib Dems are also calling for the westward extension of the congestion charge to be scrapped to free up funds to improve London's security as part of a 10 point plan, to be released today, aimed at making the capital the safer.
Comments
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1. Graham Bland
This is one of the more stupid things I expected to happen. It won't make any difference to any terrorist, they don't need to use mobile phones, they are just an easy way of synchronising the explosions.
There are many other ways of easily doing the same thing so it won't make anybody any safer, just inconvenience a lot of people.
When will people understand that to prevent terrorism we need to protect everything where a group of people gather; bus queues, shops, pubs, underground, cafe's etc etc which even if we were to accept living in a police state still would not work. The terrorist just has to choose the weakest target and use the easiest methods.
2. Bob Hail
Knee jerk reaction, ban technology. The phones in Madrid were used as alarm clocks not grid connected. I am constantly astounded by the level of hysteria about co-ordinated terror. Amazingly 500,000 people every Saturday turn up at football stadia just before kick off because we all now use a timepiece to co-ordinate our movements, yet when several attacks happen at the same time the media leap into overdrive about the sophistication of the "shadowy organisations". Sense of perspective and read, think before reacting.
3. Anjum Sawhney
The advantage of being able to communicate and conduct business should be the priority and what kind of a message are we sending these nutcases....I thought we said they will not change our right to live our lives as we want.
Don't punish the technology.
Bloody politicians haven't clue they just jump on a band wagon that will give them a popular position.
4. Ken
Yes ban them because they are annoying and could be unbearable in a packed train when irritation is already running high.
Not much to do with stopping terrorists though?!?
5. Howard Melamed
Mobile phones can be used by terrorists to remotely trigger an explosive device. They can also use the alarm clock function on the mobile phone to set off a bomb at a syncronized time, as in Madrid train bombings last year. These are facts that must be dealt with before allowing the use of mobile phones in the tube.
There are solutions to preventing the use of mobile phones by terrorists. They include the disallowing of incoming calls in all underground facilities and the scrambling and turning off of the alarm clock function when entering the tube. These are within the realm of programming by the cellular providers and can be implemented quickly.
A terrorist can turn a mobile phone into a triggering device for explosives within 3 minutes. The least we can do is study the problem for a far greater time in order to protect the public from a possible terrible outcome.
6. Anjum sawhney
Get a grip why ban the phones...if they can be used as a timing device...next you will want us to take our watches off before we enter the underground...wake up to the real world.