Donald Trump's Scotland visit cost £3.2m to police

4 February 2019, 06:50

Policing Donald Trump's four-day visit to the UK cost more than £14.2 million, according to figures obtained by the Press Association.

The US president flew in to swathes of protests as he met the Queen at Windsor Castle, was hosted by Theresa May and played golf in Scotland.

With thousands of officers drafted in from every force in Great Britain, policing July's trip cost in excess of £14,258,966, according to police figures released under Freedom of Information laws.

The Home Office reimbursed £7.9 million to cover the additional costs to the three forces in England that "hosted" Mr Trump - the Metropolitan Police, Thames Valley Police (TVP) and Essex Police. The Treasury was to refund Police Scotland.

Before Air Force One touched down on July 12, the combined police and security bill had been estimated to be £10 million.

And with the Foreign Office costs not yet disclosed, the total price of the visit is likely to be significantly higher.

The biggest bill came from TVP, which spent more than £6 million policing Mr Trump's visit to the Prime Minister's country residence Chequers and Windsor Castle.

Also on their patch is Blenheim Palace - the scene where the Prime Minister hosted a black-tie dinner for Mr Trump and his wife Melania as a firestorm of a newspaper interview was released.

In a highly unwelcome move, the property mogul told The Sun he would have handled Brexit negotiations "much differently" to Mrs May and that her plan could "kill" any UK-US trade deal.

The Met said spending came in at just under £3 million - in part due to tens of thousands coming out to protest against Mr Trump.

Essex Police, which oversaw the policing of Stansted Airport where Air Force One touched down, spent more than £1.86 million.

Mr Trump's trip to Scotland - during which he played golf at his Turnberry resort in Ayrshire on both days - cost £3.2 million.

Thousands also protested across Scotland during what was termed as a "private visit", and police investigated a Greenpeace-backed paraglider who flew over the resort.

Police Scotland's sum fell short of its advance estimate of £5 million because the president did not visit his Aberdeenshire estate as budgeted for.

"The revised total reflects the fact that his visit was confined to Turnberry," said Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams. The bill would be picked up by the UK Treasury, he added.

Most of the forces hosting the trip made payments to other forces to reimburse them for providing officers to the effort.

The leading forces then billed the Home Office for costs outside their normal operations, such as enlisting external officers and accommodating them, as well as overtime payments.

Deploying more than 1,000 officers, the British Transport Police (BTP) also spent more than £200,350 during the visit.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: "As well as costing Britain millions of pounds, this visit also saw our over-stretched officers forced away from their usual duties."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We received applications from three forces for special grant totalling £7.9 million in relation to their additional costs arising from the US president's visit.

"These claims have been paid in full."

The total sum falls short of the £18 million estimate announced by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), because its figure relied on predictions given by forces before the visit ended.

The PA figures were released by the hosting forces, as well as BTP, after their final costs had been tallied.