Politics.co.uk

UK gears up for transatlantic anti-terror exercise

UK gears up for transatlantic anti-terror exercise

The UK, USA and Canada are to take part in a major international counter-terrorism exercise from April 4 – 8.

The ‘Atlantic Blue’ exercise is designed to test simultaneous responses to linked terrorist incidences and will focus on communications issues at a strategic international level.

The Government stressed that the exercise is part of “sensible contingency planning” and does not represent a change of level of threat to the UK.

Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said: “The threat from international terrorism remains real and serious, and is a worldwide concern. It is vital we make every effort to enhance and develop our resilience to this threat by working closely with our international colleagues. Exercise Atlantic Blue provides an excellent opportunity to do this, through sharing best practice on emergency planning and response procedures.”

The key themes of the exercise will be incident management, public information and intelligence/investigation.