UK terror threat level raised to severe

The threat to the UK from international terrorism has been raised from substantial to severe – meaning an attack is “highly likely”.

Announcing the move last night, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said although the threat had increased there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was imminent. But he urged people to be vigilant.

He added that it was not specifically linked to the Christmas Day plane bomb plot or any other incident, although it comes ahead of a major counter-terrorism conference in London next week.

Mr Johnson said: “The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) has...raised the threat to the UK from international terrorism from substantial to severe.

“This means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but I should stress that there is no intelligence to suggest than an attack is imminent.

“JTAC keeps the threat level under constant review and makes its judgments based on a broad range of factors, including the intent and capabilities of international terrorist groups in the UK and overseas.”

He added: “The highest security alert is critical and that means an attack is imminent, and we are not at that level.”

The minister said more measures had been taken to protect aviation since the alleged failed bomb attack on a plane at Detroit at Christmas.

“We have a very adept and very focused counter-terrorism facility in this country and people should be reassured by that.”

The Christmas Day bomb plot has moved the focus of the fight against terror onto the Yemen, where suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has reportedly claimed he was supplied with explosives.

Following the attack, the Yemeni government has stepped up a US-backed military operation against al Qaida sympathisers based in remote areas of the Middle Eastern country.

And Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called an international counter-terrorism meeting on Yemen in London for January 27.

A security review conducted in the wake of the failed attack led to Mr Brown’s announcement on Wednesday of new measures, including a suspension of direct flights between the UK and Yemen and a “no-fly list” to prevent people with suspected militant links from travelling to Britain.

Mr Johnson said: “We still face a real and serious threat to the UK from international terrorism, so I would urge the public to remain vigilant and carry on reporting suspicious events to the appropriate authorities and to support the police and security services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity.”

Yesterday’s escalation of the threat level reverses a decision in July last year to downgrade the likelihood of a terror attack from “severe” to “substantial”.

JTAC, 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.

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 first made public on August 1, 2006, when it was set at severe. It was raised to critical on August 10 that year after a series of arrests over an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic aircraft, but lowered to severe again the following week.

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