An al Qaida militant cell sought to poison London’s water supplies but were thwarted by the security services, a former counter-terrorism minister has revealed.
00:00This latest revelation that an Al-Qaeda militant cell previously seeked to poison London's water supplies by attacking reservoirs comes as the Prime Minister attempts to gear up the country in the face of threats from hostile forces and increasing security and defence concerns.
00:21Speaking in response to the details released by Lord West, former Metropolitan Police Chief Lord Hogan Howe, who led the force from 2011 to 2017, said that for about 15 years he has been worried about the local water supply, the large and small reservoirs, the pipes that connect them and, of course, the water treatment plants.
00:48He adds that he worries there is sometimes confusion between the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and others about who is looking after security.
01:05This move from the government comes against the backdrop of ongoing concerns about the vulnerability of critical national infrastructure to attack.
01:17In London, we have seen multiple times this year significant disruption caused by damage to our power infrastructure.
01:27And although no suspicious activity so far has been linked to substation fires in both Pays and Maida Vale, these sorts of incidents have raised concerns over the resilience of the local infrastructure.
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