Growing risk of attacks on UK in ‘breakdown of world order’, says defence secretary
Britain is at growing risk of chemical and biological attacks due to a “breakdown of world order”, the defence secretary has warned.
In an interview with the Times, Ben Wallace said the internet had proved a “turbo boost” for terrorist groups and nation states seeking information on deadly attacks.
“Globally, I think there is a growing threat of chemical or biological [attack]. It depends on what is at hand for people using the internet. It is unfortunately what happens in a sort of breakdown of world order where you see countries like Syria use it on its own people,” said Wallace.
The defence secretary cited the Novichok poisonings on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury as an example of the increasing use of chemical nerve agents by foreign states.
Two Russian nationals were accused of travelling to the Wiltshire city to murder Skripal with Novichok, with government officials pointing fingers at the Kremlin.
“There has been a worry that some states think it is acceptable to use that type of method to carry out or further their aims,” said Wallace.
He also said the attack in Salisbury demonstrated the need for police officers to be trained to deal with chemical and biological attacks as the likelihood of attacks increases.
Professor Tim Atkins, an expert at the government’s Porton Down facility near Salisbury, said he believed Britain may be vulnerable to heightened risk of attack over time as more sophisticated technology is developed.
“I think we are at the point where [threats from biological engineering] have largely been invented but I’m not sure they’ve been fully exploited and it’s very hard to predict which way that will go,” he told the Times.
Home secretary Priti Patel yesterday announced the terror threat level in the UK has dropped from “severe” to “substantial” following a reduction in incidents across Europe.
However, she warned that “a terrorist attack is still likely”, meaning the national threat level would be “kept under constant review and is subject to change at any time”.