UK ‘Ring of Steel’ Against Irish-Related Terrorism

This is the first time the Government has published the Irish-related threat assessment to Great Britain.
UK ‘Ring of Steel’ Against Irish-Related Terrorism
9/24/2010
Updated:
9/25/2010

[xtypo_dropcap]T[/xtypo_dropcap]he terrorist threat from the Irish-related groups has been upgraded from “moderate” to “substantial” with a “ring of steel” proposed around Labour’s Conference in Manchester.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “The director-general of the Security Service has informed me that he has raised the threat to Great Britain by Irish-related terrorism from moderate to substantial, meaning that an attack is a strong possibility. Judgments are based on a broad range of factors, including the intent and capabilities of terrorist groups.”

Police promised “robust” security around the Labour Party conference in Manchester which starts today.

The Manchester Evening News said of police preparations: “A ‘ring of steel’ will be thrown up around a secure zone in the city centre.”

This is the first time the Government has published the Irish-related threat assessment to Great Britain.

“This is in the interests of transparency and to encourage people to remain vigilant,” Theresa May said on the Home Office website.

“I would urge the public to report any suspicious activity to the police and security services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity.”

The current threat level from al-Qaeda and related networks is “severe.”

There are five levels of threat:
• critical—an attack is expected imminently
• severe—an attack is highly likely
• substantial—an attack is a strong possibility
• moderate—an attack is possible but not likely
• low—an attack is unlikely