Police granted extra time to quiz terror suspects

Police were last night granted the power to hold 23 suspects arrested in connection with the alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic planes in custody for another week. Another suspect, who was arrested in the Thames Valley area on Tuesday night in connection with the anti-terrorist operation, was released without charge. Under the provisions […]

EU ministers agree common effort against terrorism

European governments must coordinate their efforts to tackle terrorism if they are to be effective, the home secretary urged EU ministers today. John Reid said this morning’s meeting of interior ministers and EU Commission officials in London “symbolises our keenness to stand together in the face of that threat”. Speaking at a press conference afterwards, […]

Ministers deny return to 90-day detention

The home secretary has denied suggestions that he will try once again to introduce 90-day detention for terror suspects following last week’s alleged terror plot. John Reid said it was not a “good time” to divert energy into trying to force through the measure, which was rejected in the Commons last year. But he made […]

UK threat level reduced

The terror threat level to the UK has been lowered from critical to severe, which means that while an attack is highly likely, it is no longer imminent. Home secretary John Reid said the security services believed that the main suspects in the alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic flights mid-air had been arrested […]

Howells rejects British Muslim claims

Claims by British Muslim groups that Britain’s foreign policy is responsible for the current critical terror alert have been rejected by Foreign Office minister Kim Howells. A letter addressed to the prime minister and signed by three Muslim MPs and other British Muslim groups calls for an urgent revision of UK foreign policy. It calls […]

Reid: UK remains on high alert

The UK will remain on the highest possible alert following yesterday’s thwarted terrorist plot, the home secretary has said. John Reid said the threat level would remain critical – meaning a terrorist attack is expected imminently – as a cautionary measure to protect the public. Mr Reid thanked Pakistan for its help in foiling the […]

Freeze on terror plotters’ assets

The government has frozen the assets of 19 people connected with the plot to blow up several passenger planes mid-air. The Bank of England received instructions from the Treasury to take the action early on Friday, following advice from the police and security services. Twenty-four people are being questioned by police in connection with the […]

Reid calls for unity against terrorism

People should go about their daily lives in the wake of today’s thwarted terror plot to ensure those responsible do not win, the police have urged. Scotland Yard deputy commissioner Paul Stephenson said that people must “keep this in perspective and go about our daily business, otherwise we lose”. He was speaking after police announced […]

Police thwart plot to commit ‘mass murder’

The security services have thwarted a plot to blow up several planes mid-air in what one official said was an attempt to commit “mass murder on an unimaginable scale”. The UK threat level has been raised to critical as a result, and security at all the country’s airports has been tightened, including a ban on […]

Reid calls for ‘common effort’ against terrorism

Opposition parties, the media and some aspects of the judiciary “just don’t get” how much of a threat terrorism poses to the UK, the home secretary has argued. John Reid said the only way to tackle what he described as most serious threat to the country since the second world war was for every section […]