New measures due to Charlie Hebdo tragedy
According to media, securityhas been stepped up at British ports and border controls in the wake of Charlie Hebdo magazine “terrorist” shooting, which left 12 people dead in Paris.
Home Secretary Theresa May – who chaired a meeting of the government’s COBRA security committee – said: “Following the attacks we took the precautionary step yesterday of increasing security at the French-UK border.
“Officers from border force, the police and other organisations operating at the UK border have intensified checks on passengers, on vehicles, and on goods coming from France and other parts of Europe.”
At the COBRA meeting, the terror threat level remained unchanged. It is now at “severe” which means that an attack is highly likely – one below “critical” which means an attack is considered imminent.
The Prime Minister’s spokeswoman added: “The intelligence does not suggest there is any change in the threat level here [in the UK] but on a precautionary basis we have tightened up border security, particularly at our juxtaposed controls. For example at ports people going through them will see increased car and truck searches, a bit more scanning of freight.
“They will also see an increased visible presence, for example at our juxtaposed control at Gare du Nord in Paris. This is about looking at what we think is appropriate given the incident, but is not based on any change to the threat level.”
Read more at international media news agencies below:
Reuters –Britain says steps up border security after Paris attack
IBT Times –Paris shooting: UK government steps up security after ‘cowardly’ Charlie Hebdo attack
Express UK – Britain step up security at ports and border controls after Paris ‘terrorist’ attack
