British Army Now on Streets of Britain

This is war. But the West is fighting it bound and gagged.

The scores injured had metal bolts in their bodies.

Manchester Arena bombing: Theresa May raises threat level, and troops to be deployed on Britain’s streets – live news

• Police name attacker as Salman Ramadan Abedi
• Full report: Police race to establish if Manchester suicide bomber acted alone
• Theresa May condemns ‘callous terrorist attack’
• Police begin to name victims; 12 children among 59 woundedCity in shock: families’ desperate search for missing victims

By Vikram Dodd, May 23, 2017 (thanks to Alan Sloan):

• Government guidelines say military help will be provided to “the civil authorities when their capacity is overwhelmed”. The guidelines updated in 2016, say: “The armed forces can be brought in to deal with a range of situations including … after a terrorist attack where armed military personnel may be deployed to locations usually guarded by armed police officers, to enable those officers to undertake other duties.”

  For instance, armed police officers assigned to guard nuclear plants can be replaced by soldiers, and directly assist their police colleagues in armed operations

  It is now 24 hours since Salman Abedi walked into the Manchester Arena and set off a bomb that killed 22 people and injured 59 more.

  He targeted a pop concert aimed at teenage girls in particular. The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis writes that such performances are often derided by critics, but the likes of Ariana Grande provide the kind of empowering, transcendent experience that terrorists hate.

  Manchester’s heartbreak: ‘I never grasped what big pop gigs were for until I saw one through my daughter’s eyes’

  Theresa May concluded her statement:

  “I do not want the public to feel unduly alarmed. We have faced a serious terror threat in our country for many years and the operational response I have just outlined is a proportionate and sensible response to the threat that our security experts judge we face. I ask everybody to be vigilant and to co-operate with and support the police as they go about their important work.

  “I want to end by repeating the important message I gave in my statement earlier today. We will take every measure available to us and provide every additional resource we can to the police and the security services as they work to protect the public.

  “And while we mourn the victims of last night’s appalling attack, we stand defiant. The spirit of Manchester and the spirit of Britain is far mightier than the sick plots of depraved terrorists, that is why the terrorists will never win and we will prevail.”

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  49m ago 17:16

  Vikram Dodd

  Given that a “further attack may be imminent”, as Theresa May told the nation tonight, the threat level has been raised to critical. That allows military personnel to be deployed on the streets of Britain to free up armed police resources to hunt down suspects.

  The arrangements are known as military assistance to civil powers. A key driver is that the numbers of police armed officers are limited, and they are best suited to hunt for any other terrorists, where the aim is to arrest if possible and try them in the courts.

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  54m ago 17:11

  This is Theresa May’s statement in full:

  “We again discussed the callous and cowardly terrorist attack in Manchester last night and the operational response from the security service, the police and other emergency services. It remains the case that other than the terrorist himself, 22 people were killed in the attack, 59 people remain injured and many of them have life-threatening conditions.

  “As Greater Manchester Police confirmed earlier today, the perpetrator was Salman Ramadan Abedi, who was born and brought up in Britain and as the emergency services confirmed throughout the day, his victims were innocent children, young people and their families – our thoughts and prayers are with them all.

  “I want to re-iterate what I said this morning about the professionalism of the emergency services and the bravery of the people in Manchester. Through their actions, they proved that cowardice will always be defeated by bravery, that evil can be overcome by good and that our values, the liberal, pluralistic values of Britain, will always prevail over the hateful ideology of the terrorists.”

  “The work undertaken throughout the day has revealed that it is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack. This morning I said that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the independent organisation responsible for setting the threat level on the basis of the intelligence available, was keeping the threat level under constant review. It has now concluded, on the basis of today’s investigations, that the threat level should be increased for the time being from severe to critical. This means that their assessment is not only that an attack remains highly likely, but that a further attack may be imminent.”

  The prime minister said Operation Temperer – allowing military personnel to take to the streets – was now in force: “This means that armed police officers responsible for duties such as guarding key sites will be replaced by members of the armed forces, which will allow the police to significantly increase the number of armed officers on patrol in key locations. You might also see military personnel deployed at certain events such as concerts and sports matches, helping the police to keep the public safe.”

  May continued: “In my statement earlier today, I said that the police and security services needed to investigate whether Abedi was acting alone. Those investigations continue. But the work undertaken throughout the day has revealed it is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack.

  “This morning I said that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the independent organisation responsible for setting the threat level on the basis of the intelligence available, was keeping the threat level under constant review. It has now concluded, on the basis of today’s investigations, that the threat level should be increased for the time being from severe to critical.”