The Scottish News of the World reported has reported that it had seen “a secret security blueprint” for the papal visit to Scotland revealing that up to 6,000 police officers from the Strathclyde and the Lothian and Borders forces will be on duty as well as thousands of private security guards that will have to be specially drafted in. The paper describes the arrangements as a “£10 million ring of steel round the pope”.
The security arrangements will also involve no-fly zones over the areas the Pope is visiting.
One insider told the paper: "The Pope's security arrangements are being timed with military precision. The plans have been underway for months."
It is the biggest security operation in Scotland since former US president George Bush's arrival at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles in 2005 – and that cost £72 million to secure. Bellahouston Park will be "swept" by bomb squads, while churches must provide the names of parishioners attending.
Our source said: "It's a multi-million pound operation – easily ten million. Nothing is left to chance. Every manhole cover within ten miles of that park will be lifted, checked, and sealed."
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: “Now we are getting to know what these security arrangements will really consist of and what they will cost. The ten million guesstimate made in the News of the World story is likely to be very wide of the mark – the true cost is likely to be much, much more. Even if it is correct, that doubles the cost to the tax payer in one fell swoop. Who is going to pay for it? The police forces can’t afford it, and the Home Office has told us that policing is a devolved matter and that the UK government will not fund it. In the end, of course, it is the taxpayer who will pay, whichever budget it comes out of.”
Mr Sanderson said that the English events will be even more elaborately secured than the Scottish ones.
“The Hyde park Mass and other events in London will put the Scottish operation in the shade in terms of size and scope. And the Birmingham ‘beatification ceremony’ will be the biggest of them all. We can see that the overall security costs of this could run to £100 million quite easily. This is ridiculous – almost mind-boggling when the Government is talking of 25% cuts in public spending, and there is no doubt it will directly lead to the loss of people’s jobs, the only question is how many.”
Last month Bob Jones, head of finance at West Midlands Police, said the force may have no choice but to slash the number of its bobbies on the beat to fund its share of the bill for the visit.
Mr Sanderson noted that in his Newsnight interview, Lord Patten had indicated that the theme of the pope’s visit would be the fight against poverty.
Mr Sanderson said: “If the Pope cancelled this visit, planned so extravagantly without a moment’s thought about the cost, he would do more for the poor and needy than any charity could. This visit is literally taking money from the poor and disadvantaged, who are going to find the new austerity measures particularly hard. Yet the pope — head of one of the wealthiest organisations in the world — can waltz into the country and siphon breathtaking amounts of money out of the exchequer simply to promote his questionable religious teachings. Let him come back next year and face the disabled and elderly people who are finding their lives increasingly restricted and difficult because of Government cuts.”
Meanwhile, the Tablet reveals this morning that the Church is revising upwards the amount of money it will have to raise to pay its share of the deal.
There is speculation that it will have to rise from £7 million to £10.5 million.
At the moment the Church claims to have raised £6 million.
SIC: NSS/UK