Blair denies intelligence failure
Tony Blair today defended the British security services against claims they severely underestimated the terrorist threat to the UK ahead of the London bombings.
A document from the Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre (JTAC), leaked to the New York Times, claimed there was no imminent threat of attack on Britain.
Published just three weeks before the July 7th suicide bombings, it suggested that no group had “both the current intent and capability to attack the UK”.
Questioned by Conservative leader Michael Howard on the issue today, however, the prime minister defended the JTAC, describing them as “extraordinarily motivated and committed people”.
“Our security services and our police, partly through the JTAC, do an enormous amount of work in gathering information from all different parts of the world,” Mr Blair said during prime minister’s question time.
“I am satisfied they do everything they can to try to protect our country. It was of course terrible that these terror attacks took place in London but in the past few years the security services and police have done an immense amount to protect our country.”
He added that they were caught between balancing individual human rights and security, but assured MPs that “each time the benefit of the doubt is given to the protection of this country above all”.
The JTAC report also suggested the Iraq war acted “as a motivation” and “a focus” for terrorist-related activity in the UK, although Mr Blair again denied this.
“I think we need to be very, very clear about this – terrorists use all sorts of excuses but the roots go very deep,” he told the Commons today.
Mr Blair repeated his insistence that extremism had to be tackled with a combination of measures, through anti-terror legislation, work within the Muslim community and better international cooperation.
He told MPs the government was considering organising an international conference to “take concerted action right across the world to try to root out this type of extremist teaching”.
Mr Blair said he had already held talks on this issue with Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, who had expressed a “real desire and willingness” to deal with extremism.
