With only three days to go before the Olympic Games begin in London, British ministers have decided to call up 1,200 more military troops, bringing the total military forces deployed to the 2012 Olympics to 18,200.
“Ministers decided that we should deploy the additional 1,200 troops that were put on standby last week. On the eve of the largest peacetime event ever staged in this country, ministers are clear that we should leave nothing to chance”, said British Olympics Minister Jeremy Hunt.
The move comes shortly after British Home Secretary Theresa May authorized the call-up of 3,500 extra troops because the British private security company G4S announced it could not supply 10,400 forces for Olympics security.
British MPs have already raised concerns over “chaos” during the Olympic Games and said security preparations for the London Olympics have undermined the public’s confidence in organizers.
“The chaos which has emerged over the security contract was predictable and undermines confidence in those responsible for managing the Games”, said Labour MP Margaret Hodge, the chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee.
ISH/JR/HE
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