One chief constable said the resources that had been asked for to cover the US president’s visit were on the scale required ‘if London was burning down’. Photograph: Edward Smith/PA
Police are planning the biggest mobilisation of officers since the 2011 riots as thousands of people in the UK prepare to protest against the arrival this week of Donald Trump.
Thousands of officers will be moving across the country to contain demonstrations against the US president,who arrives on Thursday and will visit London, Windsor and Scotland during the two-day trip.
One chief constable said the resources that had been asked for were on the scale required “if London was burning down”. Firearms officers, armed counter-terrorism units, public order officers and dog handlers are being deployed for the visit.
Police chiefs said the initial numbers being asked for by the National PoliceCoordination Centre (NPoCC) were too high and that they fought to cut them.
Several chiefs told the Guardian they were concerned the demands to send personnel to protect Trump added to the pressure to find enough officers to keep their own areas sufficiently safe.
One said: “The more we send there, the less we have for our areas. With the hot weather, if anything kicks off, we are struggling. They cut the officers in the urban areas [biggest forces] and now they need them.”
The original planning was for 6,000 officers, deployed within about 300 police support units, which would comprise one inspector, three sergeants and 18 to 20 constables.
It is understood that about 4,000 officers will be mobilised, to support colleagues in the areas Trump is visiting, and that some forces in other regions have restricted leave so their officers can make up the numbers.
The Police Federation has already acknowledged said that the president’s visit will put “unquestionable pressure” on UK police forces.
Cars damaged by floodwater as heavy rain continues in Hiroshima, Japan. Dozens of people have been killed. Photograph: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images
Heavy rainfall is hammering southern Japan for a third day, prompting new disaster warnings on Kyushu and Shikoku islands as local media report the death toll has risen to 76 with 92 people missing.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3cm (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.
The official toll includes one person killed last week, when the typhoon system that brought the heavy rains first made landfall in Japan, but most of the deaths have been reported in the last few days.
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Billy Caldwell's mother: ‘Medical cannabis keeps my epileptic son alive’ – video
The 12-year-old boy with epilepsy whose condition sparked a national conversation on the UK’s drug policy is heading home amid uncertainty about access to his cannabis-based medication.
After public outrage over the confiscation of Billy Caldwell’s medicine at Heathrow airport, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, granted a licence for cannabis oil to be administered to the boy at home. But Billy’s family, including his mother, Charlotte Caldwell, say there is no clarity on when the confiscated medicine will be released to him in Northern Ireland.
“While the Home Office in London and Charlotte’s MP, Órfhlaith Begley, have done an amazing job in getting us this far, the Department of Health in Northern Ireland have not confirmed that Billy’s medication will be available,” said a spokesman.
The Home Office will give the captain of the flight being taken by the family “secure custody” of the medicine and he must give it to authorities in Belfast upon arrival.
Last year, Billy became the first child to be prescribed medicinal cannabis oil on the NHS. He then reportedly went 300 days without a seizure. But the Home Office later ordered his GP not to renew the prescription as it contravened UK law.
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