Terrorists "highly likely" to attack UK

Updated 15.59 Sun Apr 22 2007

Keywords: ID cards, terrorism, John Reid

It is "highly likely" that terrorists will try to launch attacks in the UK, Home Secretary John Reid has warned.

Mr Reid said that the terror alert level had remained at "severe", which is the second highest level, for some months.

"It's at what we call severe level, which means that it is highly likely that the terrorists will try to get through and attack us" - John Reid

He was speaking after the first gathering on Thursday of his new Counter-Terrorist Board, which brings together ministers, Whitehall officials and security officers to look at the scale of the threat.

Next week Tony Blair is to chair the monthly Ministerial Committee on Security and Terrorism.

When asked about his current assessment of the threat from terrorists Mr Reid said: "I think the last time we spoke on this some months ago I said it was the second highest level. It's still there.

"It's at what we call severe level, which means that it is highly likely that the terrorists will try to get through and attack us."

He continued: "That's why night and day the security services are working, the police are working to try and defend us all. It's also one of the reasons that we have re-focused the Home Office, because over the last 15 years there are three big problems it faces in terms of security which are international terrorism, international crime and the mass migration of people throughout the world.

"They are other big issues in people's minds and that's why we've refocused the Home Office towards them."

Mr Reid rejected suggestions that Chancellor Gordon Brown was against one of his key counter-terrorism measures, the introduction of ID cards.

There was "no truth" in suggestions that Mr Brown might scrap the ID card scheme if he becomes Prime Minister, said Mr Reid, adding that "we in the Labour Government utterly support it".