UK downgrades terror threat

Britain's terrorist threat level has been downgraded from “severe” to “substantial”, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said today.

That means the official assessment of the danger of an attack in the near future has shifted from “highly likely” to a “strong possibility”.

Mr Johnson said the country still faces a “real and serious” threat from terrorists and urged members of the public to remain vigilant.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, a unit within MI5, sets the level based on an analysis of intelligence.

The assessment covers potential attacks by al-Qaida or linked extremist groups and the threat from dissident republican and loyalist terrorists in the North.

There are five levels of threat, ranging from low – meaning an attack is unlikely, to critical – when an attack is expected imminently.

The threat level was last at critical in June 2007, following the attack on Glasgow Airport and the failed car bombings in central London.