Home Secretary David Blunkett has tried to calm public fears of an imminent terror attack by Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.

In an interview for The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Blunkett appeared to distance himself from comments made by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, who, speaking in the aftermath of the Madrid rail bombings on March 11 – which killed 201 and left 1,500 injured – said a similar attack on London was “inevitable.”

Mr Blunkett said such statements made the public “jumpy without good effect.”

He told the paper a balance had to be struck between “telling the truth and reassurance.”

Tony Blair also suggested an attack on Britain by al-Qaeda was almost certain.

Mr Blunkett argued: “I cannot give a 100 per cent guarantee that we will not have an attack because of the nature of the threat and the dangers of suicide bombers.

“Prevention, not cure, is the order of the day. Resilience is important for dealing with the aftermath but what we are concentrating on is stopping it,” he said.