UK under ‘severe threat’ from terror, warns May

‘The twisted aim of the extremists is to use violence and terror to divide us. They will not succeed’

THERESA MAY warned of the “severe” threat facing Britain after the alleged Westminster attack as figures revealed a significant rise in terrorism cases.

Downing Street said the number of live investigations into suspected terror plots rose from “more than 500” in March to 676 by the end of June.

A spokesman described the present threat as “one of the starkest we have faced”.

Figures showed that of 2,029 terrorism-related arrests in Britain over the past seven years, 412 were carried out in 2017 alone, the highest number since records began. Mrs May, on holiday in Switzerland, was kept informed of developments following what she described as a “shocking” incident.

She said in a statement: “For the second time in as many years the home of our democracy, which is a potent symbol of our precious values of tolerance and freedom, has witnessed terrible scenes just yards from its door. The threat to the United Kingdom from terrorism remains severe. I would urge the public to be vigilant – but also to come together and carry on as normal, just as they did after the sickening attacks in Manchester and London.

“The twisted aim of the extremists is to use violence and terror to divide us. They will never succeed.”

Mrs May praised the “formidable courage” of the emergency services, “who were on the scene immediately and in significant numbers”. She said: “Once again, they did not flinch and ran towards a dangerous situation in order to protect the public.”

She said her thoughts were with “the innocent members of the public who were hurt in this appalling incident”.

Senior officials held a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee yesterday and Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, who was on his way overseas to start a family holiday, returned to London to be briefed on the incident.