Now Priti raises UK’s alert level to ‘severe’

THE UK’s terror threat level was raised to ‘severe’ last night amid fears of a copycat attack in the wake of atrocities in France and Austria.

It means an attack on British soil is now deemed ‘highly likely’ by the security services. The attack in Vienna – believed by local police to have an Islamist motive – came on the eve of Austria entering a month-long coronavirus lockdown. England is set to follow suit from midnight tonight.

France saw three attacks last month, including last week’s knife attack in Nice which left three dead.

‘Severe’ is the second highest threat level. The highest is ‘critical’, which means an attack is ‘highly likely in the near future’. The change comes almost exactly a year after the UK threat level was lowered by one category to ‘substantial’, meaning an attack was thought to be ‘likely’ rather than ‘highly likely’.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: ‘ The [Government’s] Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has changed the UK terror threat level from substantial to severe. The British people should be alert but not alarmed. This is a precautionary measure following the horrific events in France and in Austria and is not based on a specific threat.’

She added: ‘We face a real and serious threat in the UK from terrorism. I would ask the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police.’

Security sources said they were ‘alive’ to the threat of a copycat attack in the UK. ‘It is a reaction to what happened in Paris and Vienna and we don’t have any intelligence that an imminent attack is planned,’ a source said.

‘It is more concern about the momentum that comes after one attack after another, and the impact that could have back in the UK as people we monitor could be galvanised by that.’

Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, said police were stepping up security measures. The public would see more police on patrol, particularly at key locations, in the next few days.

‘We need communities and families to bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable, a danger or escalating towards terrorism,’ he added.