Britain is facing its biggest terrorism threat in history and has foiled about 40 major plots since suicide bombers attacked London in 2005, the United Kingdom Home Secretary Theresa May has said on Monday. Reuters report:
The government would on Wednesday set out new laws to take on the militants, May added, including legislation making it easier for security services to track attackers online, and check if radicalized fighters were flying into Britain.
“When the security and intelligence agencies tell us that the threat we face is now more dangerous than at any time before or since 9/11 we should take notice,” the home secretary (interior minister) said in a speech.
Insurance companies would be barred from providing cover for ransom payments under the new legislation and airlines would be banned if they failed to provide information on passengers flying to Britain, she added.
The government has said Britons returning from fighting in Syria and Iraq provide one of the most serious threats.
May said around 40 terrorist plots had been disrupted since four young Britons carried out suicide bomb attacks in London in 2005, killing 52 people.
These included attempts to conduct Mumbai-style gun attacks on British streets, blow up the London Stock Exchange, bring down airliners and murder a British ambassador and military servicemen, she added.
