The UK domestic security agency Mi5's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre on Monday lowered the national terror threat level to "substantial" from "severe."
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2019) The UK domestic security agency Mi5's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre on Monday lowered the national terror threat level to "substantial" from "severe.""The threat to the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) from terrorism is SUBSTANTIAL," the counter-intelligence agency said on its website.
The substantial threat level is the third one on the five-point scale and means that an attack is likely. The severe level means a terror assault is highly likely, while the last notch means it is imminent.
Home Office Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement that the decision had been taken independently of ministers.
"Despite the change in the threat level, terrorism remains one of the most direct and immediate risks to our National Security," she said, adding that an attack "might well occur without further warning."
The terror threat level was raised to severe in August 2014 in response to a threat posed by radicalized Britons fighting in Syria and Iraq. It was briefly raised to critical after a bombing at a pop concert in Manchester in May 2017.
