MI5 BOSS: TERROR ATTACKS TO GET WORSE
Islamist threat at ‘scale and pace not seen before’
SPYMASTER Andrew Parker yesterday warned the terror threat to Britain was growing at a record level.
The MI5 director-general highlighted the threat of Isis, saying terror operations were at “a scale and a pace we have not seen before”.
And he warned they had not yet reached “the high water mark”.
The veteran intelligence officer added: “We have seen a dramatic upshift in terror threats that are higher than at any other time in my 34-year career.”
And the veteran intelligence officer added: “We have not yet reached the high water mark.”
Speaking at a secret location in London yesterday, Parker, 55, said his officers have smashed 20 potentially deadly attacks against the UK in four years.
Seven of those attacks, ranging from random stabbings to sophisticated bombings, had been foiled just in the past 12 months.
Parker also confirmed there had been record numbers of terrorism-related arrests this year, 379 up to June. And 500 live MI5 counter-terror operations are under way at any one time.
Those MI5 investigations involve around 3000 people linked to suspected Islamist plots in Britain, some of whom have returned from Syria or Iraq.
The planned terror attacks range from lone knifemen to potential mass casualty assaults using explosives.
Parker said: “It is clear that we are contending with an intense UK terrorist threat from Islamist extremists.
“It is multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly and operating at a scale and pace we’ve not seen before. But so too is our response. There is risk from returnees from Iraq and Syria and the growing pool of individuals we have looked at in the past. And there will be violent extremists not yet known to us.
“Islamist terrorism is an acute and enduring challenge.”
MI5 have almost doubled in size since the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001.
There are now 4000 employees, including spies and support staff, but that figure is due to rise to 5000 to cope with the evolving challenges.
Parker, who is MI5’s 17th director-general, stressed that some of the plots uncovered are highly organised and involve detailed planning, while some just take a matter of days.
He warned the “toxic ideology of hatred” could drive terrorist killers towards adopting “crude but lethal” attack methods.
Using the Arab name for Isis, the spy chief said the increased threat “is driven by Daesh’s murderous strategy and propaganda. Daesh directing mass casualty plots. Daesh encouraging extremists in the UK to kill. Daesh inspiring attacks generally by lone actors or small groups or anyone who will listen to their poisonous message”.
Britain has suffered a string of Isis-inspired attacks this year, including the worst terrorist atrocity since the 7/7 bombings of London in 2005.
Twenty-two people died when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in May.
Parker pointed out that MI5 also had to respond to other threats to national security.
He said: “Alongside that work against Islamist terrorism, MI5 remains a multi-dimensional organisation.
“We continue to bear down on terrorism in Northern Ireland with our police partners and to work against espionage and other clandestine activity by Russia and other foreign states who seek to do Britain harm.”