Trusting the people

Here's some good news:

Police and BAA are recruiting aviation enthusiasts to help fight terrorism at London's Heathrow Airport.

Plane-spotters will be given identity cards and a code of conduct encouraging them to report anything suspicious.

It's about time. For a long while now the authorities at Manchester and some other airports have been using the local knowledge of enthusiasts in the fight against terrorism. BAA has been slow off the mark. Aviation fans are often far more aware of what's going on at airports than many of those who work at them and for whom it's "just a job".