01/08/2006

Terrorist threat rating system simplified

The official rating of terrorist threats to the UK has been simplfied and reduced to five levels instead of seven.

The levels of alert are now: low, moderate, substantial, severe and critical. The new system combines the previous ratings of 'severe general' and 'severe defined' into one category and scraps the previous lowest category of 'negligible'.

The current state of alert in Britain is 'severe' - it had previously been set at 'severe general' since August last year.

The introduction of the new system followed criticism of the old system before the July 7 bombings in London in a report by a parliamentary committee.

The announcement of the new system was welcomed by Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

The new levels are displayed on the MI5 website at www.mi5.gov.uk and at the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk .

(KMcA)

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