LONDON: Police and emergency services took part in the biggest counter-terrorism drill held in London to date on Tuesday, with about 1,000 officers testing their response to a potential militant attack on the British capital.
Britain is already on a state of high alert following an attack by a gunman at Tunisian holiday resort last week which killed 39 people, most of them British tourists.
The two-day exercise was planned before that, following attacks in Paris in January in which gunmen killed 17 people in a rampage, a government spokesman said.
But following the Tunisia violence, the government has warned the public that attempts to stage an attack in Britain were possible.
Most of the drill will take place out of public view in several locations across London. But reporters saw about half a dozen armed police officers, some clutching shields, entering a disused underground station in central London to hunt down “terrorists” as gun shots rang out on Tuesday morning.
Other personnel could be seen treating injured “victims” on a pavement.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, Maxine de Brunner, told Reuters the scale of exercise, was larger than anything undertaken previously in the capital.
It involved London’s transport authority, local government and the Ministry of Defense and will see the government’s emergency Cobra committee convened.
Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament on Monday the training exercise would “test and refine the UK’s preparedness for dealing with a serious terrorist attack.”
It also takes place a week before the 10th anniversary of the suicide bombings on London’s transport network by four British militants which killed 52 people.
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London police hone skills to tackle terror
London police hone skills to tackle terror
UK Starmer calls for ‘calm discussion’ to avert trade war with US over Greenland
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Monday for calm discussion to avert a possible trade war with the United States over Greenland, appealing to President Donald Trump to respect alliances such as NATO rather than undermine them.
All but ruling out retaliatory levies against the United States if Trump carried out his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Britain and seven other countries unless the US was allowed to buy Greenland, Starmer sought to de-escalate the war of words.
He used an early morning
press conference
to set out what he described as the values underpinning his approach toward Trump, which has been criticized by opposition politicians for being too weak, by saying “pragmatic does not mean being passive.”
STARMER SAYS TARIFFS SHOULD NOT BE USED AGAINST ALLIES
After telling Trump that his threatened tariffs were wrong on Sunday, Starmer doubled down to say he would use “the full strength of government” to try to stop the US decision, one, he said, that could only hurt already stretched households.
“Tariffs should not be used against allies in this way,” Starmer said, adding that he was not looking to escalate a tariff war at this point.
“A tariff war is in nobody’s interests, and we have not got to that stage. And my focus, therefore, is making sure we don’t get to that stage.”
Trump threatened tariffs on imports from the eight countries which sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland last week, following Trump’s repeated statements he wanted to take over Denmark’s vast Arctic island to ensure US security.
Starmer said he
told Trump
on Sunday those forces were “clearly there to assess and work on risk from the Russians.” He said he hoped that there was now “real clarity” about that.
The British prime minister signalled his approach would differ from that of the European Union, which has discussed options to respond, including a
package of tariffs
on 93 billion euros ($107.7 billion) of US imports.
Instead, he said, Britain should work to nurture a relationship with the United States that was crucial for UK security, intelligence and defense, while disagreeing with the tariff threat and working diplomatically to avert it.
Starmer said the threats risked causing a “downward spiral” for Britain, in terms of trade and the weakening of alliances.
“I do not want to see that happen,” he said, but he added: “That doesn’t mean that we put to one side our principles and our values. Quite the contrary, we’re very clear about what they are.”
Starmer has built a solid relationship with Trump and in May last year he became the first leader to secure a deal to lower some tariffs.
Asked if he thought Trump was genuinely considering
military action, Starmer said: “I don’t, actually. I think that this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion.”
All but ruling out retaliatory levies against the United States if Trump carried out his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Britain and seven other countries unless the US was allowed to buy Greenland, Starmer sought to de-escalate the war of words.
He used an early morning
press conference
to set out what he described as the values underpinning his approach toward Trump, which has been criticized by opposition politicians for being too weak, by saying “pragmatic does not mean being passive.”
STARMER SAYS TARIFFS SHOULD NOT BE USED AGAINST ALLIES
After telling Trump that his threatened tariffs were wrong on Sunday, Starmer doubled down to say he would use “the full strength of government” to try to stop the US decision, one, he said, that could only hurt already stretched households.
“Tariffs should not be used against allies in this way,” Starmer said, adding that he was not looking to escalate a tariff war at this point.
“A tariff war is in nobody’s interests, and we have not got to that stage. And my focus, therefore, is making sure we don’t get to that stage.”
Trump threatened tariffs on imports from the eight countries which sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland last week, following Trump’s repeated statements he wanted to take over Denmark’s vast Arctic island to ensure US security.
Starmer said he
told Trump
on Sunday those forces were “clearly there to assess and work on risk from the Russians.” He said he hoped that there was now “real clarity” about that.
The British prime minister signalled his approach would differ from that of the European Union, which has discussed options to respond, including a
package of tariffs
on 93 billion euros ($107.7 billion) of US imports.
Instead, he said, Britain should work to nurture a relationship with the United States that was crucial for UK security, intelligence and defense, while disagreeing with the tariff threat and working diplomatically to avert it.
Starmer said the threats risked causing a “downward spiral” for Britain, in terms of trade and the weakening of alliances.
“I do not want to see that happen,” he said, but he added: “That doesn’t mean that we put to one side our principles and our values. Quite the contrary, we’re very clear about what they are.”
Starmer has built a solid relationship with Trump and in May last year he became the first leader to secure a deal to lower some tariffs.
Asked if he thought Trump was genuinely considering
military action, Starmer said: “I don’t, actually. I think that this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion.”
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