Donald Trump's UK state visit cost Met police £3.5m
Over 6,300 officers deployed for June trip, at time of
mounting pressure on police resources
Jamie Grierson and agencies
@JamieGrierson
Thu 1 Aug 2019 11.55 BST
The Prince of Wales and Donald Trump outside the US
ambassador’s residence, in London, on 4 June 2019. Photograph: Victoria
Jones/PA
Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK cost the Metropolitan
police nearly £3.5m, figures have revealed, at a time of rising pressure on
police resources.
Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated against the US
president in the capital before he attended a D-day commemoration service in
Portsmouth.
The total cost to the Met for policing the visit was
£3,419,905, with more than 6,300 officers deployed during the three-day trip,
according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Met spent just under £3m policing the president’s
previous visit to the UK in 2018, although the total cost of that four-day trip
came in at more than £14.2m to forces across the UK.
A breakdown of costs for the state visit shows more than
£800,000 was spent on overtime, £215,000 on infrastructure, £31,385 on fleet
costs, £23,000 on hotels, £34,481 on catering and £41,000 on mutual aid.
Trump spent three days in the UK on his first official state
visit, which began on 3 June and included a state banquet with the Queen at
Buckingham Palace and a two-night stay in Ireland.
Jeremy Corbyn addressed crowds of protesters from a stage in
Whitehall during the second day of the president’s visit, while Trump dismissed
reports of demonstrations as “fake news”.
Scotland Yard said four arrests were made: one for
possession of pepper spray and a class B drug, one for criminal damage and two
for outraging public decency.
Before Trump’s visit, a Met spokeswoman said: “A very
experienced command team is preparing the multi-faceted policing and security
operation for the president’s visit and whilst the Met has a responsibility to
ensure the right to lawful protest this needs to be balanced with the complex
requirements of this policing plan.”
The data released by the force shows more than 6,300 police
officers were deployed during Trump’s visit, with the majority on the streets
during his two days in London.
On 3 June, the day the president flew into Stansted aboard
Air Force One, there were 2,714 police, ranking from PC to deputy assistant
commissioner, on duty, as well as 14 other police staff.
The following day, when the largest protests took place,
some 3,249 police officers were on duty along with 30 other police staff.
There were 411 officers deployed in London as Trump attended
a D-day event in Portsmouth, and 306 were in place on 2 June, as the force
prepared for the president’s arrival, while just 38 were on duty on 6 June when
he visited Ireland.
Hampshire police deployed their own officers during his visit
to the commemoration event at Portsmouth naval museum but will not publish
figures until later in the year.
A Garda spokesman said the cost of Trump’s trip to Ireland,
where he stayed at his Doonbeg hotel and golf resort in County Clare, had yet
to be finalised.
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