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| Britain |
| UK fears al-Qaeda attack during elections |
| 2005-02-25 |
| The UK remains vulnerable to the "real and serious" threat of terrorism by al-Qaeda, according to research by leading academics on the country's preparedness for future attacks. The finding comes after Charles Clarke, home secretary, warned members of parliament in a contentious debate about the government's new anti-terrorism measures, that Britain could face a Madrid-style bomb in the run-up to elections expected in May. Downing Street yesterday rejected claims that Mr Clarke's warning was intended to stoke concern about the terrorist threat in order to speed passage of the legislation through parliament. Mr Clarke's warning was echoed yesterday by Ian Blair, London's police chief. He said it was "obviously unwise" to reveal specific intelligence but added: "Terrorists have long memories. They understand what happened in Madrid, they know what the impact of that event was on the Spanish electorate." Areas of concern identified in the study include potential gaps in security in the transport sector, underfunding of emergency services, and insufficient attention by the private sector to the threat of a major terrorist attack, with regions outside London falling behind the capital in developing contingency plans. The report promises to fuel the debate surrounding the government's plans to rush in new "control orders" to deal with terrorist suspects who cannot be prosecuted because of lack of evidence. The researchers said it would be highly undesirable if counter-terrorist policies were to become a "party political football". To be effective, such policies required the broadest possible support and cross-party backing in parliament. Such is the sensitivity of some of the research, that the authors declined to identify specific weaknesses in areas such as strategic energy supplies, the financial sector, and the administration of government. The report released yesterday does however state that Transec, the Department of Transport's security arm, has "insufficient personnel to carry out its task of frequent and thorough inspections of port and airport security", and that new regulations are needed to govern the security arrangements for chemical facilities. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 It might be the only way to bring the general British populace back to its senses. But that' the British way, lose every battle and win the war. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-02-25 12:37:42 PM |
| #2 The trouble with pulling such a stunt in the UK is that an attack which successfully hits the Blair government will more likely benefit the Tories rather than the Lib Dems (assuming switched voting goes proportionally according to the other parties' pre-existing popularity). That would be like removing Bush and finding Cheney taking his place, rather than Kerry. Not really a wise move, which is of course no reason to assume the jihadis wouldn't think it was a jolly good plan. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2005-02-25 12:34:21 PM |
| #1 The Madrid syndrome - an electorate caving in to terrorism - will haunt us for a long time. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-02-25 8:21:25 AM |