UK Security threat level raised.
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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If the security forces make no exra effort and a bomb goes off, they will be blamed. If they take extra precautions and a bomb doesn't go off they won't get any praise, just miserable whingers wanting to know why their tax dollars/pounds are being wasted on fruitless exercises.
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Reuters says:
Perhaps someone could ask the DfT (and BALPA)?
Heck of a way to devalue the alert status!
Britain has not raised its national terrorism threat level nor a separate threat gauge for airports and railway terminals, police said on Friday, after reports that security had been stepped up at transport hubs.
London's Metropolitan Police, the force responsible for coordinating counter-terrorism nationally, said it had no knowledge of the threat level being raised from "substantial" to "severe," the second highest level, at major airports and railway terminals, as reported by the BBC and other media.
London's Metropolitan Police, the force responsible for coordinating counter-terrorism nationally, said it had no knowledge of the threat level being raised from "substantial" to "severe," the second highest level, at major airports and railway terminals, as reported by the BBC and other media.
"We never discuss security. We never say its been stepped up or stepped down -- so I really don't know where this has come from," he added.
Heck of a way to devalue the alert status!
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I`m amazed to the lack of understanding from professionals in the industry.
Threat to uk aviation and uk threat level are two different things.
A general announcement is not made, only to effected groups
Threat to uk aviation was decreased from Severe to Subtantial in august and has now been raised again to Severe. That is what Balpa informed us of. The fact is we were at Severe for so long before August i think everyone got use to it!
Threat to uk aviation and uk threat level are two different things.
A general announcement is not made, only to effected groups
Threat to uk aviation was decreased from Severe to Subtantial in august and has now been raised again to Severe. That is what Balpa informed us of. The fact is we were at Severe for so long before August i think everyone got use to it!
>Parabellum,
Why does issuing a warning to the public, this kind of abstract and ambiguous warning help?
Warning people involved in security, the police and such - I can understand & with those types then some specific details about the threats might well be useful.
But tell the public? We are Warning Fatigued! No one listens & no one cares. The threats are vague, they rarely result in anything and when something does happen it is either successful because it can not be noticed or it is so amateurish it is blatantly obvious and fails.
Constantly crying wolf is counter-productive and just looks stupid.
We've been at war for 10 years now and are quite used to seeing the coffins of troops being returned home & reading of drone attacks in AllBranistan - we know well enough that we need to watch out. For people with underpant bombs and such like....
What is the difference between Substantial and Severe? Where's the list that explains what we are supposed to do differently? How more 'observant' do we need to be? How....?
Why does issuing a warning to the public, this kind of abstract and ambiguous warning help?
Warning people involved in security, the police and such - I can understand & with those types then some specific details about the threats might well be useful.
But tell the public? We are Warning Fatigued! No one listens & no one cares. The threats are vague, they rarely result in anything and when something does happen it is either successful because it can not be noticed or it is so amateurish it is blatantly obvious and fails.
Constantly crying wolf is counter-productive and just looks stupid.
We've been at war for 10 years now and are quite used to seeing the coffins of troops being returned home & reading of drone attacks in AllBranistan - we know well enough that we need to watch out. For people with underpant bombs and such like....
What is the difference between Substantial and Severe? Where's the list that explains what we are supposed to do differently? How more 'observant' do we need to be? How....?
At BFS last evening, security said the threat level had been raised to "Critical" for cargo.
Although I see on the Home Office website that NI is "Severe" and GB is "Substantial"
Although I see on the Home Office website that NI is "Severe" and GB is "Substantial"
If BALPA had sent this kind of attachment with their wonderfully enlightening text message, then a few questions may well have been answered !:-
"I have had a few enquiries yesterday following a suggestion that our security threat level had been increased to SEVERE (Terrorist attack highly likely). There has also been mention of the news this morning.
Last year, being a government body, MI5 decided to complicate things and have different levels for different threats (more specifically, Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, JTAC). The National threat level was raised to severe in January last year and has stayed there ever since. In september, threat levels from Irish terrorism was published for the 1st time, Northern Ireland being Severe and the rest of GB being Substantial (terrorist attack is a strong possibility).
The terrorist threat level specific to transport hubs has been increased from substantial to severe in response to an overall elevated threat of terrorism in the country, although there is no intelligence of a possible imminent attack. The heightened alert level, which authorities have called precautionary, includes airports and London railway terminals; an increased police presence at related transports hubs across the United Kingdom is expected. The overall national threat level remains at severe; the sub-grading of specific sectors of the national infrastructure is usually not made public. However, it is believed that authorities announced the change to alert the public and raise awareness around major transport hubs. Intelligence reports in October 2010 had raised Europe-wide concerns about an alleged al-Qaeda plot to launch 'Mumbai-style' terrorist attacks in France, Germany and the UK. The arrest of nine people in the UK at the end of December on charges concerning an alleged plot for a bomb attack during Christmas furthermore indicates the persistent risk of a possible terrorist risk, which may particularly target the transport sector. Travellers are advised to exercise caution in the vicinity of all public transport terminals and should report any suspicious persons or packages to the relevant authorities.
Threat levels in themselves do not require specific responses from the public or industry. They are a tool for security practitioners working across different sectors of what we call the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and the police to use in determining what protective security response may be required. By its very nature, intelligence cannot be revealed completely and there will always be limitations to what we can say about security and the responses we have planned.
Back in December, the Metropolitan Police Service launched a campaign called 'If you suspect it, report it' to raise awareness of the threat to the UK from terrorism and published the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
So, what does this all mean for us? Well, not a lot. We all just have to be mindful that we all operate as part of a very valuable but fragile infrastructure. We should be looking at planning for extra time for security at airports, especially if we are a commercial passenger as extra checks are likely and may take longer that usual.
I hope this is useful but should you have any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to call..."
Now, i'll be the first to admit that the Security Officer at my employer is exceptionally good, but could BALPA not have come up with something very similar ???................
"I have had a few enquiries yesterday following a suggestion that our security threat level had been increased to SEVERE (Terrorist attack highly likely). There has also been mention of the news this morning.
Last year, being a government body, MI5 decided to complicate things and have different levels for different threats (more specifically, Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, JTAC). The National threat level was raised to severe in January last year and has stayed there ever since. In september, threat levels from Irish terrorism was published for the 1st time, Northern Ireland being Severe and the rest of GB being Substantial (terrorist attack is a strong possibility).
The terrorist threat level specific to transport hubs has been increased from substantial to severe in response to an overall elevated threat of terrorism in the country, although there is no intelligence of a possible imminent attack. The heightened alert level, which authorities have called precautionary, includes airports and London railway terminals; an increased police presence at related transports hubs across the United Kingdom is expected. The overall national threat level remains at severe; the sub-grading of specific sectors of the national infrastructure is usually not made public. However, it is believed that authorities announced the change to alert the public and raise awareness around major transport hubs. Intelligence reports in October 2010 had raised Europe-wide concerns about an alleged al-Qaeda plot to launch 'Mumbai-style' terrorist attacks in France, Germany and the UK. The arrest of nine people in the UK at the end of December on charges concerning an alleged plot for a bomb attack during Christmas furthermore indicates the persistent risk of a possible terrorist risk, which may particularly target the transport sector. Travellers are advised to exercise caution in the vicinity of all public transport terminals and should report any suspicious persons or packages to the relevant authorities.
Threat levels in themselves do not require specific responses from the public or industry. They are a tool for security practitioners working across different sectors of what we call the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and the police to use in determining what protective security response may be required. By its very nature, intelligence cannot be revealed completely and there will always be limitations to what we can say about security and the responses we have planned.
Back in December, the Metropolitan Police Service launched a campaign called 'If you suspect it, report it' to raise awareness of the threat to the UK from terrorism and published the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
So, what does this all mean for us? Well, not a lot. We all just have to be mindful that we all operate as part of a very valuable but fragile infrastructure. We should be looking at planning for extra time for security at airports, especially if we are a commercial passenger as extra checks are likely and may take longer that usual.
I hope this is useful but should you have any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to call..."
Now, i'll be the first to admit that the Security Officer at my employer is exceptionally good, but could BALPA not have come up with something very similar ???................
Travellers are advised to exercise caution in the vicinity of all public transport terminals and should report any suspicious persons or packages to the relevant authorities.
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If you click the homepage of CNN today, the Quickvote poll is "Do you pay any attention to terror threat alerts ?"
CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News
At 4243 votes, "No" = 61% and "Yes" = 39%.
CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News
At 4243 votes, "No" = 61% and "Yes" = 39%.
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I certainly don't pay any attention to them. Don't misunderstand me, I don't go around thinking it can't happen to me - quite the contrary. The reality is that we are ALWAYS under threat of one form or another, be it terrorism or otherwise. I do my best to be vigilent, but at the same time I won't get paranoid and let it affect my life. I remain realistic and if it happens than so be it. There's still statistically a much higher chance of me getting hurt (or dying) in a road traffic accident. I'm of course happy that the various authorities do all within their powers to avert terrorist attacks and I always cooperate with them, but these public alerts do nothing else but put the fear of God in those of a nervous disposition.
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Funnily enough, got an email from my company about security. It was marked confidentiaI, which I suppose means...do not phone the BBC or post on pprune. The Balpa one may be similar, but I'm not a member so would'nt know.
l
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Why does issuing a warning to the public, this kind of abstract and ambiguous warning help?
Breaking up a plot depends on whether the authorities have enough info/evidence to move in, arrest and bring to trial, said miscreants. I am willing to believe that there are authorities who accept the risk of allowing a plot to come to fruition (with subsequent casualties), if it later allows a greater round-up of miscreants. IMHO.
