A member of a security team assigned to protect UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab while on a trip to the US has been suspended from duties after mistakenly leaving his gun on the plane.
According to reports, the weapon was found by a cleaner who had boarded the aircraft at London’s Heathrow after Mr Raab and his security detail had disembarked.
A statement issued by the UK Metropolitan Police said that, “we are aware of the incident on a flight into the UK on Friday, 18 September and we are taking this matter extremely seriously.”
“The officer involved has since been removed from operational duties whilst an internal investigation into the circumstances is taking place.”
According to The Sun, the police headed for the aircraft as soon as the Glock 19 pistol was discovered in its holster. The newspaper quoted a source as saying that the officer had removed his pistol while sorting through passports and preparing to escort Mr Raab from the plane.
During his trip to Washington, Foreign Secretary Raab urged the Trump Administration to stand by the Boris Johnson government’s side in what are proving to be increasingly acrimonious negotiations with the European Union.
Shortly after, 2020 Democrat Party presidential candidate, Joe Biden, issued a statement saying that if he wins the White House in November, a US-UK trade deal will rest upon UK “respect” for the Good Friday Agreement, which critics say is being threatened by Boris Johnson’s negotiating position.
In a Tweet, Mr Biden said, “we can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit. Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”