FIGURES released by the Home Office today reveal the massive sum spent on the Euros- despite the fact that they took place in France.
The £1 million figure went towards sending teams of officers to France in an attempt to keep English, Welsh and Northern Irish fans safe.
The French government called on the British police force for assistance, which included a police presence at UK ports and the collection of 1400 passports in an attempt to stop hooligans travelling to France.
A team was set up to carry out investigations here while many officers were also sent to mainland Europe.
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The centre of the violence came in Marseilles when England supporters were assaulted by Russian “fans” whose main goal seemed to be to cause fighting amongst fans. At least one supporter was seriously injured with many criticising the lack of protection from organised Russian gangs who were reportedly carrying weapons.
The conditions only worsened when Russian fans overwhelmed stewards at full time and continued to attack the England supporters. Following this an agreement was reached to send more officers to England less heated games against Wales Slovakia and Iceland.
The Home Office say that it was not ‘appropriate’ to recover costs from the French as the majority of the UK operation for the tournament took place here.
Harry Davis, campaign Manger at the TaxPayer’s Alliance said ‘This seems a big bill, especially at a time when savings need to be made across the whole public sector ‘
‘It’s right that the police enforce any banning orders stringently but the top brass must ensure costs are kept down and insist that these arrangements are reciprocated during any future tournament in the UK.’
England crashed out of the tournament against minos Iceland in the round of sixteen, the nations most embarrassing defeat in a long time. The defeat however probably saved Taxpayers further expenditure.
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