Downing Street Says » Counter Terrorism

Asked if the doctors who were recently arrested at the weekend in connection with the security alerts and incident at Glasgow airport were in Britain legally, and what was the Prime Minister’s view about the fact that professionals were involved, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told journalists that this was an ongoing police investigation and it would therefore be inappropriate for him to comment whilst it was still ongoing.

Put that the Home Secretary had specifically mentioned a sports stadium in an interview today, and did we have any further intelligence on this, the PMS replied that he would not be in a position to comment on intelligence.

Asked if COBR was meeting again today, the PMS confirmed that there was expected to be a COBR meeting of officials later today.

Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to hold any talks with either David Cameron or Sir Menzies Campbell, the PMS said that clearly, there had been discussion between Jacqui Smith and her opposite numbers. The offices of the leaders of the main opposition parties had been kept informed of developments on Privy Council terms. However, as the Prime Minister had said yesterday, the main focus for now was very much on the police operation and dealing with the increased security threat, as well as ensuring that the public remained vigilant, so this was not a time for rushing into new legislation.

Asked what the status of the terror legislation review the Prime Minister spoke about was and was it now formal, the PMS replied that these things were kept under constant review, and people should expect that to be the case. Generally, on terror, the Prime Minister was determined to ensure that every action was taken to protect the public, but we were equally determined that while dealing with all these issues, we must not be deflected from the main business of Government. The PMS added that that was why he was able to tell journalists about the main business of the week.

Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to visit either Glasgow or the flood areas, the PMS replied that obviously, because of the security situation, we would not be able to publicise any visits in advance.

Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to visit Alex Salmond in the next 48 hours, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been in contact with the First Minister. They had spoken on Saturday afternoon, shortly after reports of the Glasgow incident had broken, and the First Minister was also involved in the COBR meeting by video link on Saturday afternoon. The PMS said that there was a very good degree of co-operation between the Metropolitan Police, Strathclyde Police and other authorities.

Put that during the Prime Minister’s interview yesterday, he mentioned the need for winning hearts and minds with a "cold war-style propaganda" effort, and what did he have in mind, the PMS replied that this was not especially new language, as it was something that the Prime Minister had been talking about for some time. Clearly, as we urged vigilance on the public as we increased security levels, we also had to ensure that we needed to do more to win hearts and minds across all communities.

Asked if there had been any contact with Muslim organisations, the PMS replied that the Government had been in contact with Muslim organisations.

Asked if today’s counter terrorism statement would deal with possible future legislation or would it be more about police operations, the PMS replied that it was better to wait for the statement.

Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to meet MPs regarding the London attacks, as he was already meeting MPs regarding the Glasgow incident, the PMS said that again, we were in constant contact with all those affected by the London incident.

Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet with his European colleagues, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had had conversations with a number of European leaders last week.

Asked if the Prime Minister read anything into the fact that the latest attack was in Scotland, and as a Scottish Prime Minister, did he fear in any sense that it was directed against him, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister’s view was that attacks could have happened anywhere in the UK.

Asked if we were working on the basis that these attacks were directed at the new Government, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was asked this question yesterday during an interview. As he had said then, these attacks could have happened at any time, anywhere in the country.

Asked if the Prime Minister believe that the UK’s foreign policy radicalised Islam, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said yesterday, terrorist organisations of this kind were operating in many countries, not only in the UK, with the first similar incident in 1993 in New York.

Asked how long would the alert status remain at critical for, the PMS replied that this was something that was kept under constant review and was a decision for the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), independently of Ministers. If they had anything further to say, then an announcement would be made.

Asked if that would be made soon, the PMS said that we would have to see how things developed over the next few days. JTAC would have to continue to assess the latest intelligence, but the PMS said that he would not pre-empt any decision that they may or may not make.

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» Monday, July 2, 2007

Counter Terrorism

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