Ex-intelligence boss calls for all officers to be given weapons so they can respond to terror attacks
ALL police officers must be armed to prevent a repeat of the London Bridge terror attack, a former top intelligence officer said today.
Colonel Richard Kemp called for a crackdown on extremists and saying that Britain needs to "detain, export and exclude terrorists".
He also suggested that last night's atrocity was deliberately timed in order to disrupt the General Election this week.
Currently only around 5 per cent of police officers in Britain are routinely armed, with most carrying only non-lethal weapons such as batons.
Last night, a team of armed police responded to reports of a terror attack on London Bridge and shot three terrorists dead within eight minutes of the incident starting.
Did you see the London Bridge terror attack, or know anyone involved? Please contact The Sun newsdesk on 020 7782 4100, text 07423720250 or email [email protected]
Col Kemp told The Sun that increasing police use of firearms would allow officials to respond to future atrocities better.
He said: "We need to have every cop in this country armed, which gives us a greater chance of having an immediate response.
"There was very quick response here, but that’s due to proximity to the scene, which unfortunately doesn’t apply everywhere."
The officer, who commanded the British troops in Afghanistan and worked for the Joint Intelligence Committee, called for a comprehensive terror strategy.
He said: "It’s very likely the people involved will have been known and the way to deal with it therefore is to get rid of similar people before they carry attacks like these out in future.
"We can do that by deporting people who are not British citizens and who are known to be terrorists, by detaining those who are and by excluding those who are ISIS fighters returning from Iraq and Syria."
Col Kemp also suggested that the timing of the last night's rampage was connected to both the election and the start of Ramadan, when some jihadists launch attacks to promote their twisted vision of Islam.
He said: "During Ramadan we always expect to see a higher level of violence from ISIS and we’ve seen that around the world, and now in London.
"The other thing is the election - carrying out an attack during an election period gives ISIS fighters credit."
The military veteran said that more police and Armed Forces should be on Britain's streets, to speed up the response time in the wake of attacks.
The need for more armed police has gathered support from across the political spectrum.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Senior Lib Dem Simon Hughes told Sky News today: "If we need more armed police, we must have more armed police."
Historically, the use of guns by police has been hugely controversial within Britain, with many people proud of the tradition of unarmed officers.
However, terror attacks in recent years have led many to argue that more police should have weapons.
Colonel Richard Kemp’s comments on terror in full
FROM looking at what’s going on it looks likely the government wouldn’t have had intelligence.
The reality is that even an attack which involves knives is hard for the government to get information about, because it doesn’t require much preparation.
There is obviously a direct link to previous ISIS attacks that have been carried out, either at the direction of ISIS or being inspired by ISIS but also, the timing of these attacks is related to two things – one is Ramadan.
During Ramadan we always expect to see a higher level of violence from ISIS and we’ve seen that around the world, and now in London.
The other thing is the election; carrying out an attack during an election period gives ISIS fighters credit.
It’s very likely the people involved will have been known and the way to deal with it therefore is to get rid of similar people before they carry attacks like these out in future.
We can do that by deporting people who are not British citizens and who are known to be terrorists, by detaining those who are and by excluding those who are ISIS fighters returning from Iraq and Syria.
I’m not confident the government will do this.
I don’t know if any politician in the UK will do that – they will in due course, because if they don’t these attacks will continue and they’ll have to.
But for right now, the most likely thing is we’ll see the threat level increase, more armed troops and police as an immediate measure.
I doubt it would have made any difference if the national threat level had remained at critical.
That being said, the elements of it being critical which included military forces and additional police should be reverted because it allows for quicker reactions.
We need to consider that this level of threat is going to continue for some time.
We should be convicting people involved in radicalisation. It’s time to take the gloves off and hit very, very hard now.
We need to detain, export and exclude terrorists.
We also need to have every cop in this country armed, which gives us a greater chance of having an immediate response.
There was very quick response here, but that’s due to proximity to the scene, which unfortunately doesn’t apply everywhere.
Did you see the London Bridge terror attack, or know anyone involved? Please contact The Sun newsdesk on 020 7782 4100, text 07423720250 or email [email protected]