In the wake of numerous terrorist attacks across Europe, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has warned the public that an attack on United Kingdom shores is inevitable, claiming a successful plot is a case of “when, not if”.
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Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Sir Bernard said instead he could offer reassurance by explaining what police and security services are doing to protect the public.
The Met chief said: “I know that with each new outrage, and especially those on our doorstep in Europe, there is a greater sense of fear that Britain will be the next victim in this wave of cruel and mindless mass murder”. “I am afraid I can not do that entirely”, Hogan-Howe wrote. Our threat level has been at “Severe” for two years.
Sir Bernard said the country was nonetheless well prepared for dealing with the terrorist threat, pointing to plots which had been thwarted since the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in south east London in 2013.
“Our gun controls and the simple fact we are an island mean that terrorists in the United Kingdom would struggle to get the firearms required to repeat attacks similar to those we have seen on the Continent”.
Sir Bernard said British gun control laws and the “world-beater” relationship between police, MI5 and MI6 makes the United Kingdom environment “immediately hostile” to terror attempts.
He also pointed to the fact that the United Kingdom is an island and has strict gun controls as contributing factors, and referenced “the British way of life and culture”.
“Our gun controls and the simple fact we are an island mean that terrorists in the United Kingdom would struggle to get the firearms required to repeat attacks similar to those we have seen on the Continent”.
He paid tribute to officers who had volunteered to take on the role in an era where police teams increasingly have to contemplate an rapid, all-out assault on attackers whose likely intent is to inflict the maximum number of casualties before sacrificing their own lives.
Britain’s top officer also praised the nation’s “tolerance and acceptance”, saying that the “shared values” of communities also make the United Kingdom less susceptible to extremism.
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The Met police chief concluded on an optimistic tone, claiming that London is a vibrant city and calling on its citizens to help “be our eyes and ears against terror”. Hostile to terrorists and a place the world wants to visit and invest in – and rightly so. “We don’t stigmatise the millions of British Muslims whose values and faith completely reject the terrorists’ litany of hate”.
