Anti-terror squads supported by the Army have been set up to counter the threat of a Mumbai-style attack in London, Theresa May revealed today.
In an update to Parliament on the government counter-terrorism strategy, the Home Secretary said the move had been prompted by concern about the “trend” for terrorists to carry out firearms attacks which required a “very different response” from bombings.
She said the new teams had been formed to protect “high priority areas” and would include police, fire and ambulance staff.
But she said the military would also be on standby.
“We remain concerned at the trend for terrorists to use firearms as part of an attack,” Mrs May said. “This kind of incident requires a very different response from an attack using an improvised explosive device.
“The police must be able to act quickly — if necessary with military assistance. The emergency services also need to be able to reach and treat casualties, possibly even while the attack is still under way. Small specialist teams have been formed in high priority areas.”
The specialist anti-terror squads are among a number of new measures set out today in the Home Secretary’s annual report on the Government’s “Contest” strategy for combating terrorism.
Other moves include a new requirement for all organisations receiving NHS funding to provide staff with “prevent” training designed to ensure that patients with mental health or other problems which might lead them towards terrorism can be identified and diverted away for such conduct. The measure is also designed to ensure that health bosses are aware of the risk of medical staff becoming radicalised following earlier cases involving hospital employees.
Checks on proposed new “free schools” are also being carried out to ensure that they are not used to propagate extremist teaching, while other schools are also being encouraged to “challenge” radical ideologies.
Mrs May also discloses that the Government’s “Channel” programme, which seeks to identify young people, including children, who are deemed to be vulnerable to radicalisation has now had 2,500 “referrals” from police and other agencies and has given support to more than 500 people.
Ministers have been concerned about a Mumbai-style attack since terrorists killed 166 people during a prolonged assault using machineguns and other weapons in the Indian city in November 2008.
