MI5: Terror plot highest in three decades

The head of MI5 has warned that terrorist plotting against Britain is at its most intense for three decades and still growing as he backed new powers to monitor communications.

Andrew Parker said new technologies were posing ever-greater challenges to his agency as he argued that social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter had a “responsibility” to share information.

However, he stressed that MI5 was not interested in “browsing through the private lives” of the general public and should work within a “transparent” legal framework.