Terror attack on UK is a case of when and not if, says Met chief
BRITAIN’S top policeman warned yesterday that it is just a matter of time before terrorists succeed in carrying out an attack here.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “You could say it is a case of when, not if.”
He admitted that the spate of terror attacks on the Continent made it feel like “dark and desperate times”.
But Britain has “worldbeating” security services and is protected by its gun controls and the fact that it is an island, he said.
Sir Bernard has increased the number of highly-trained firearms officers by 600, back up to the 2,800 level seen just before the 2012 London Olympics.
Britain’s capacity to confront “the most terrible of threats” is increasing threefold, he added.
As a result counter terrorism specialist firearms officers are, for the first time, ready 24 hours a day.
Defiance
Sir Bernard said Britain’s tolerance and defiance meant terrorists “will never win”.
“Yes, these can feel like dark and desperate times. But defeating terrorism is as much about refusing to be afraid as anything else, refusing to change our beliefs, our values and way of life.
“We will not become like them. We will not hate. We will not be cowed. And because of this they will never win.”
Sir Bernard is the latest security chief to warn of the inevitability of an attack.
Last September MI5 boss Andrew Parker said the threat was at its highest in the 32 years he had been in the service.
And in January last year he said the security services “cannot hope to stop” every plot. Europe has been rocked by Islamic State attacks over the past year and a half.
They include the murder of 130 in Paris last November, 32 in Brussels in March, another 84 in Nice last month and an elderly priest last week.
Sir Bernard said: “I know with each new outrage, and especially those on our doorstep on the Continent, there is a greater sense of fear that Britain will be the next victim of mindless murder. As the officer in charge of preventing such an attack you want me to reassure you.
“I cannot do that entirely. Our threat level has been at ‘Severe’ for two years. It remains there. It means an attack is highly likely – it is a case of when, not if.” But he said Britain has not had a terrorist attack since soldier Lee Rigby was murdered in 2013. He said: “I can point to the plots we have foiled and potential terrorists we have put behind bars. There are a lot of things in our favour.
“The relationship between MI5, MI6 and our police is a world-beater. It has given us an advantage in intelligence and ultimately foiling plots.
“We have a professional, joined-up, national network of intelligence-led investigations. Our gun controls and the fact we are an island mean that terrorists would struggle to get the firearms to repeat attacks like those on the Continent.”
He had renewed the police’s focus on how to react “when terrorists breach these defences” and had boosted armed police numbers.
Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said cooperation between the police and public was the UK’s “greatest advantage”. Mr Rowley said officers were not complacent and he “couldn’t agree more” with Sir Bernard that Britain is a “hostile environment” for terrorists.