No hiding place here

DR MAGNUS RANSTORP University of St Andrews expert on Islamist extremism

When the authorities raised the threat level, they didn’t have a handle on the different investigative strands in relation to the attack in Manchester.

So, the arrest of people in England and abroad who may be connected to bomber Salman Abedi, and the disruption of his apparent network, was significant in it being lowered. However, severe is still pretty bad.

There are 500 live investigations across the UK and 3000 people who are real national security threats.

There are possibly 20,000 more who may come in or out of that category so it is a huge problem.

The numbers of such people who will be of interest to authorities in Scotland, I would estimate, would be in the dozens.

It’s not so much about the aggregate number but the kind of environment that is conducive to terrorist behaviour.

If there is a radical environment in, for example, Glasgow or Dundee, people will flock to that.

The authorities need to be vigilant to underground meeting places which may attract people. These need to be monitored and flagged up to police and regional counter-terror commands.

People need to be vigilant and show that individuals cannot hide in Scotland.

If there is a lot of focus in other areas then that is what could lead to people being attracted towards Scotland.