We can’t stop all terror plots, says MI5 chief as gun rampage fears rise

THE head of MI5 has warned that the police and security services will not be able to stop all terrorist attacks on Britain despite their successes in recent years.

Andrew Parker, director general of the domestic intelligence agency, revealed yesterday that 1 terrorist plots in the UK had been foiled since 013. However, he warned that ISIS posed the biggest current threat to national security and it would last a generation.

‘Together with MI6, GCHQ and the police, MI5 has disrupted 1 plots in the UK since June 013,’ said Mr Parker.

‘ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is an enduring threat, here to stay, and is at least a generational challenge. MI5 and the intelligence agencies have good defences because of the investment made in our capabilities. We will find and stop most attempts to attack us, but not all.’

In a keynote speech at the Royal Society he said MI5’s technological expertise ‘makes it less likely people will be killed by terrorism or our secrets will be stolen’.

His speech came just hours after Britain’s counter-terrorism police chief warned of the threat of a Paris-style gun rampage in Britain as he said half of the terror plots foiled involved suspects trying to get guns. Mark Rowley said five plots uncovered in the past two years involved fanatics trying to amass machine guns and others firearms to launch an attack on our streets.

Assault weapons like the ones used in the Paris massacre last November are being smuggled into Britain by criminal gangs from the Balkans and Eastern Europe and could be sold on to terrorists, he said.

Yesterday Scotland Yard launched an unprecedented appeal together with the National Crime Agency (NCA) for the public’s help amid rising concerns about the flow of weapons into Britain.

In some cases firearms and gun components are being ordered online and sent through the post direct to untraceable PO Box addresses.

Criminal gangs are also targeting weaker spots in Britain’s borders such as small ports, harbours and airfields.

NCA director general Lynne Owens said there was currently a huge demand for guns from criminal gangs and terrorists, adding: ‘It’s inconceivable that we will completely secure our sea borders.

‘Criminal networks, who think nothing about who they sell firearms to, present a significant route by which extremist groups will try to access the sort of weapons used in recent attacks in Europe. ‘One gun in the wrong hands in a public space is all it takes to cause devastation.

‘To stop weapons getting into the wrong hands we need intelligence about the firearms being used, both the supply and the access to them. We need to reinforce the importance of the public remaining alert to the potential threat and the role they play in helping to keep everyone safe.’