Sadiq Khan: Security services have thwarted seven terror attacks this year
2 min read
The UK has seen a "shift" in the terror threat in 2017, with seven attacks thwarted since March, Sadiq Khan has said.
The Mayor of London compared the statistics for this year with period since 2013, when soldier Lee Rigby was murdered in south London.
Mr Khan said he had been told by the security services that there had been a pronounced change in the threat level.
"The phrase used by police experts, and counter-terror experts, in relation to terrorism is what we're seeing is not a spike but a shift," he told an event at Labour's annual conference in Brighton.
"And the reason why they say that, is because if you look at the time when Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered in 2013 up until the Westminster Bridge attack this year, there were 13 terrorist attacks thwarted because of the excellent work of the police and security services...
"If you look at the time between March of this year and now, yes there have been four terrorist attacks (in London) but there have been seven that have been thwarted.
"In a short period of months you've had a similar number of terrorist attempts as in the space of four years. So, there is a shift, we've got to recognise that."
He also argued that the increased threat from terror attacks reinforced the case to give "more resources" to the capital's police.
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