UK at ‘severe’ risk of terrorist attack
The UK is at risk of an ‘enormous and spectacular’ terrorist attack, Britain’s senior counter-terrorism officer said last week.
Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, said that in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, Daesh was moving onto ‘something much broader’ than simply police and the military as symbols of the state.
According to a statement released on Monday 7th March, Rowley suggests that the extremist group are preparing to move into their ‘next natural phase’.
The current threat level for international terrorism in the UK has been ‘severe’ since August 2014, meaning an attack is ‘highly likely’, according to the British government.
Assistant commissioner Rowley said: “In recent months we’ve seen a broadening of that, much more plans to attack Western lifestyle, and obviously the Paris attacks in November.
“Going from that narrow focus on police and military as symbols of the state to something much broader. And you see a terrorist group which has big ambitions for enormous and spectacular attacks, not just the types that we’ve seen foiled to date.”
He added: “You see a terrorist group that whilst on the one hand has been acting as a cult to use propaganda to radicalise people to act in their name … you also see them trying to build bigger attacks.”
We asked the people of Bradford if the threat of terrorism is making them feel more anxious in their day-to-day lives and what the ‘severe’ threat level meant to them.
What they are saying…
I actually think a lot of it is over exaggerated. I do think that sometimes there are risks but not as much as the government portrays. I think they spice things up a lot. There are terrorists in the world but they have a bigger focus on the areas they are fighting in. Anything is possible I guess but I don’t think we are at the same risk we are told.
- I personally think its scare-mongering. It’s only a ‘severe’ risk to give the government leverage for whatever they have brewing for whatever political reason. As we are here talking right now in Bradford, there is no threatening behaviour, no one is attacking anyone. The risk warning is just something to put fear in people’s hearts so those at the top can have things their own way.
- It does scare me to an extent but I don’t really think about it to be honest. If anything did happen I don’t think it would be up here in Bradford, it would be a big city like London.
