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| Britain |
| UK Intelligence chiefs call for Parliament 'ring of steel'; new national security measures |
| 2004-07-12 |
| MI5 is to call for a steel barrier to be erected around the Houses of Parliament to offer better protection from potential terrorist attacks. The BBC has reported that the dossier will recommend replacing the concrete blocks currently situated around the Palace of Westminster, which officers fear could become "lethal projectiles" in any attack. It is also claimed that there are concerns that St Stephen's Tower, the clock tower which houses Big Ben, could topple and cause large-scale damage if it is targeted in a bombing. A review of security measures in Westminster was launched following the purple flour bomb attack on Tony Blair inside the Commons chamber during Prime Minister's Questions in May. The report follows claims that the security service is to create a new network of bases in the North West, West Midlands and other regions which are home to extreme Islamist groups. A Whitehall official said: "The scale of the terrorist threat is such that MI5 and the police need to be able to work together even more closely, which means that the Security Service must be dispersed in a different way." It is said that MI5 will place intelligence officers, surveillance teams and analysts across the country and set up a pilot scheme to test the proposal within months. The idea is thought to be a response to the emergence of connections between young Britons living outside London and international terrorist groups. In a separate move, Ken Macdonald, QC, the director of public prosecutions, is understood to be seeking extended powers for prosecutors and police who deal with suspected terrorists. Sounds good to me. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #15 quite. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-07-12 4:11:49 PM |
| #14 It is not a balloon, it is an AIRSHIP! [/Graham Chapman] As to the so-called "Ring of Steel." What Britain really needs is a "Rod of Steel" straight up its @ss to stop admitting slime bags like al Qaradawi. No wall or fence of any size (e.g., Hadrian's Wall) will protect Britain from the idiotic liberalism they constantly show towards these genocidal wife-beating thugs. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5718 2004-07-12 4:02:26 PM |
| #13 Sometimes the would attach small explosive charges to the cable. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-07-12 3:02:18 PM |
| #12 Just remembered - the wire would detach at both the ground and the balloon, deploying small drogue parachutes at either end. Quite effective, but apparently not alway so. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-07-12 2:16:55 PM |
| #11 Rantburg U. roolz!! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-07-12 2:02:01 PM |
| #10 No litter ballons growing up jokes. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-12 12:50:05 PM |
| #9 __ ____ __ ____ ____, Frank G! |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-07-12 12:49:43 PM |
| #8 lol - busted! Mime-Boy! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-12 12:45:06 PM |
| #7 Dammit, that was me. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-07-12 12:34:47 PM |
| #6 trailing wife - barrage balloons were a familiar feature of life in WWII England, used to defend vulnerable targets from low-level enemy aircraft attack. They were smallish unmanned dirigibles tethered to the ground by wires at the optimum height to provide a verticle wire 'screen' and so deter the bombers or straffing aircraft. If a plane hit the wire, the wire would detach at the ground (and the balloon? I'm not sure) and the plane would fly on, hopefully uncontrollable, dragging the wire and possibly with a severely damaged wing and/or engine. |
| Posted by: Marcel Marceau 2004-07-12 12:33:43 PM |
| #5 This just in: The International Court has ruled the "Ring of Steel" ringing the British Houses of Parliament violates zoning laws and must be torn down. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-07-12 12:28:47 PM |
| #4 Sorry. Of course I meant, "Barrage balloons??" |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-07-12 12:14:48 PM |
| #3 barrage ballons?? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-07-12 12:13:56 PM |
| #2 ball-oons. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-07-12 10:30:15 AM |
| #1 Yup it's Round Three. Hoist the barrage ballons and get filling those sandbags.. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-07-12 10:29:57 AM |