Britain sets up new counterterror centre

LONDON : A new London-based Counter Terrorism Operations Centre, manned by officers of Scotland Yard, intelligence agency MI5 and others, has been established to improve coordination and response to attacks in the capital and across the UK, officials said on Thursday.

Funding for the centre was confirmed by chancellor Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening. The centre, which for the first time brings all London-based counterterrorism institutions in one place, was planned since the terror attacks in London during 2017.

The current UK threat level from international terrorism is “severe”, which means an attack is highly likely.

Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said, “Following the dreadful attacks of 2017, I, along with the director general of MI5, committed both our organisations to identify exactly where we could learn from those events and continually improve the way we work together to protect the public from the terrorist threat. The concept of bringing police closer together with our national security partners into a joint operations centre came directly out of this learning.”

“Since 2017, we have worked closely with the mayor of London, our intelligence agency and security partners and the government to turn the concept into reality. The investment… will assist significantly in keeping London and the United Kingdom safe,” she said.

Officials said the centre was developed following a series of attacks in 2017 that killed 36 people and caused injury and life-changing impact to many others.