UK terrorist plots

Whitehall officials have told the BBC they are now facing an unprecedented number of terrorist plots in Britain.

They say the threat of home-grown terrorism has increased substantially since the Iraq invasion of 2003, and that 50% of recent disrupted plots are home-grown, involving British nationals living in Britain. (Note: The Arabic version of this article mentioned 55%)

Whitehall officials have also said that in practice, counter-terrorism in this age means stopping most but not necessarily all attacks.

The intelligence services are currently undergoing a major expansion with the aim of doubling in size to around 3,000 members each, but it will take years before new recruits are vetted and trained - time which would-be terrorists are expected to exploit.

Source: BBC (English)