Res Communis

UK: Statement on security and counter-terrorism

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s Office:

Wednesday 20 January 2010
Statement on security and counter-terrorism

A statement given by the Prime Minister to the House of Commons on 20 January 2010.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to update the House on the measures we are taking to enhance our security and protection against terrorism.

Yesterday, at a regular meeting of our National Security Committee, Ministers and I received the latest intelligence and information from the chiefs of our security and intelligence agencies, the head of the UK Border Agency, the country’s senior counter terrorism officials and police officers and the Chief of the Defence Staff.

Also yesterday I spoke to President Obama about our measures.

The failed attack over Detroit on Christmas day signalled the first operation mounted outside Arabia by “al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula,” the Yemen-based organisation with close links to the al Qaeda core in Pakistan. And we know that a number of terrorist cells are actively trying to attack Britain and other countries.

Earlier this month the Home Secretary and the Transport Secretary made statements to Parliament setting out urgent steps we are taking to enhance aviation security, including new regulations for transit passengers.

Today, following the advice the government has received, I want to announce further measures

* to strengthen the protection of our borders and to maximise aviation security
* and to enhance intelligence coordination at home and abroad

Mr Speaker, earlier today I paid tribute to those members of our armed forces who have most recently given their lives in the service of the security of our country in Afghanistan.

The action we are taking to counter terrorism at its source in the Afghanistan Pakistan region and elsewhere is a central part of our wider counter-terrorist strategy, and all our actions which we will update regularly are founded on what is and must be the first and most important duty of government: the protection and security of the British people.

While the UK’s borders are already among the strongest in the world I now want to set out how we will further strengthen our protection against would be terrorists:

* first by extending our Home Office Watchlist,
* and second – in partnership with security agencies abroad – improving the sharing of information on individuals of concern.

I can announce today that as well as extending our Watchlist we intend – for the first time – to use the Watchlist as the basis for two new lists: first a no-fly list and second a larger list of those who should be subject to special measures including enhanced screening prior to boarding flights bound for the UK. We will use the new technology we have introduced and our partnerships with police and agencies in other countries to stop those who pose the greatest risk from travelling to this country.

But over the coming months we will go further in taking action against people before they even board a plane to the UK.

Our e-Borders scheme is a vital component of our strategy to strengthen and modernise the UK’s border controls. It has already achieved significant success, enabling nearly 5 thousand arrests for crimes which include murder, rape and assault.

As a result of the £1.2 billion investment we are making in the e-Borders system, we will by the end of this year be able to check all passengers travelling from other countries to all major airports and ports in the UK, whether they are in transit or whether the UK is their final destination, by checking against the Watchlist 24 hours prior to travel and taking appropriate action.

The e-Borders system will give us a better picture than ever of people coming into and out of our country.

And today my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary is meeting with his European counterparts to push for swift agreement at EU level on the ability to collect and process data on passenger records, including on travel within the EU, and to enforce the European Commission’s recent approval of the transmission of advanced passenger information to our e-Borders system by carriers based in other member states.

As the Detroit bomber highlighted, we also need – and we are sponsoring – research on the most sophisticated devices capable of identifying potential explosives anywhere on the body.

And as President Obama and I discussed – greater security in our airports, with new body scanners introduced from next week, an increase in explosive trace testing, and use of dogs, must be matched by demanding greater guarantees about security in those international airports from which there are flights into our country.

I can today inform the House that we have agreed with Yemenia airlines – pending enhanced security – that they suspend their direct flights to the UK from Yemen with immediate effect. Mr Speaker, we are working closely with the Yemeni government to agree what security measures need to be put in place before flights are resumed. Aviation security officials are in Sana’a at present looking at this. I hope that flights can be resumed soon – but the security of our citizens must be our priority.

We will also work with our partners in the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the EU, and the G8 to promote enhancements to the international aviation security regime – including stronger security arrangements in airports and greater sharing of information. And my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary will be discussing initial proposals with European and US counterparts this week.

We will also offer increased assistance to countries whose weaknesses in aviation security may present a wider threat to the international community, including to the UK.

Mr Speaker, it is because we fully recognise the global nature of the terrorist threat we face today that our response must also be truly global. Plots against the UK and our interests originate in various parts of the globe. Some of the intelligence we need to protect our people against attacks will be here in Britain; some will be held by our international partners and passed to us, just as we help them with our information about the threats they face. And some information will come from the most unstable parts of the world. So in tackling these threats to life and to our way of life, our security services, to whom I pay tribute, need to be able seamlessly to track and disrupt terrorist activity and movements, whether within the UK or beyond. This requires ever closer working between our agencies themselves, and with our international partners.

So I can announce that as part of the work I have asked the Cabinet Secretary to lead on intelligence co-ordination, our three intelligence agencies have already begun to set up joint investigating and targeting teams to address potential threats upstream long before the individuals concerned might reach our shores – ensuring that at all times we continue to deliver improvements in the way we collect, share and use intelligence, building on previous reforms including the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre in 2003, and the Office of Security and Counter Terrorism and the National Security Secretariat in 2007.

Mr Speaker, in addition to all these measures to protect British lives at home and in the air – we are tackling the problem of global international terrorism at its source.

I have said before that Yemen is both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism – and is along with Somalia, the most significant after the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas.

Mr Speaker, we and our allies are clear that the crucible of terrorism on the Afghan-Pakistan border remains the number one security threat to the west.

But at the same time we must recognise that – al Qaeda’s affiliates and allies – pushed out of Afghanistan and under increasing pressure in Pakistan – are seeking to exploit other areas with weak governance like parts of Yemen, Somalia and the Sahel.

In Yemen we have been at the forefront of the international effort for some time, assisting the government through intelligence support, through support for its coastguard and for the training of counter-terror personnel. We are also helping to tackle some of the root causes of terrorism by supporting political, economic and social reform. By next year our commitments will total some £100 million, making the UK one of the leading donors. And we are also increasing our capacity-building in Somalia, working with the transitional government and with the African Union.

Mr Speaker, as with all aspects of the fight against terrorism, this new threat can be met only through enhanced cooperation. So we will now work more closely with allies in the region to pool efforts, resource and expertise.

And next week – here in London alongside our conference on Afghanistan – we will be hosting a special meeting to strengthen international support for Yemen in its efforts against al Qaeda; to help the government of Yemen advance its internal reforms; and to increase capacity building and development assistance in a way that directly addresses poverty and grievances which can fuel insecurity and extremism.

Mr Speaker, since 2001 we have reformed domestic defences against the terrorist threat: trebled our domestic security budget, doubled the staff in the security services, and reformed our security structures to bring greater coordination across government; we have responded to the changing nature of the threat by bringing in new powers and new terrorism-related offences; nearly 230 people have been convicted of terrorist or terrorist-related offences since 2001.

Mr Speaker, today’s announcements demonstrate that we will continue to be vigilant, adapting our response to changing terrorist techniques.

And I commend this statement to the House.