Spy Chief Warns U.K. Facing Dramatic Surge in Terrorist Threats

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is experiencing a rapidly-evolving terrorist threat operating at a pace and scale never experienced before, warned the head of the country’s domestic intelligence agency in a rare public speech.

Andrew Parker, director-general of MI5, said that seven plots by Islamic extremists have been foiled since March and police have arrested record numbers on terrorist offenses in response to a threat that is “coming at us more quickly, and it can be harder to detect.”

“The scale at which we are operating is greater than ever before,” he said. “We are now running well over 500 live operations involving around 3,000 individuals known to be currently involved in extremist activity in some way.”

There have been five terrorist attacks on U.K. soil in 2017 in one of the bloodiest years in the country’s postwar history. Terror chiefs raised the threat level to critical for a time, meaning attacks were imminent. That happened twice on Prime Minister Theresa May’s watch.

Earlier this year assailants with vans and knives attacked passers by on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge in two separate strikes, and a van was driven into worshippers outside a mosque in Finsbury Park.

A suicide bomber attacked a concert venue in Manchester in May, killing more than 20 people including children and mothers. In September, an improvised device exploded on London’s underground network, injuring 30 people.

Islamic State

The “upshift” -- as Parker called it -- in terror attacks has been driven by the Islamic State’s “murderous strategy and online propaganda.” As it’s being driven out Syria and Iraq, the group is directing would-be terrorists to focus elsewhere, he said. That makes the threat "more diverse" than ever.

Parker emphasized the importance of working closely with European colleagues and also called on technology companies to not provide a platform for terrorists to plan attacks.

“We have a shared responsibility to do all that we can to prevent terrorist exploitation of internet carried services,” Parker said. “No company wants to provide terrorists with explosive precursors. Social media platforms don’t want to host bomb-making videos. And communications providers don’t want to provide the means of terrorist planning beyond the sight of MI5.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson