Related Research

Department Homepage

HSR Monitor

June 2008 Issue

What's in a name? Changing the CNI

Those sharp-eyed spotters among us who carefully monitor the output of Government websites might perhaps have felt the right to be bemused when confronted with the changing definition of critical national infrastructure (CNI) that has recently emerged.

RUSI commentary

The three attempted bombings of late June 2007 highlight the continuing threat that terrorist activity poses to the UK.  Had the devices detonated successfully, it is likely that the damage to life and property would have been severe.  More worrying is the fact that the plot was only discovered at its points of attack in London and Glasgow. 

As the Police and intelligence services begin their investigations, RUSI will employ the expertise and experience in the Homeland Security and Resilience Department and content from its website to provide swift, sober and insightful analysis of the attacks and the implications they carry for national security.

RUSI Commentary and Analysis

Situation Critical? ** New **
On Thursday 5 July, the current threat level in the UK was reduced from Critical to Severe. It had been raised to Critical, the highest of five possible levels, on Saturday 30 June following failed car bomb attacks on Central London and Glasgow Airport and was kept there for six days – longer than was the case for last summer’s ‘liquid bomb plot’ to down transatlantic airliners – until the police and Security Services were sure they had captured all those involved in the plot.

The Australian Connection ** New **
Australians have a lot of sympathy for the UK when it suffers a terrorist attack. Many Australians have significant connections to the UK, so the incidents in London and Glasgow were front page news and lead stories in newscasts on Australian television.
4 July 2007

Reporting the car bombs
They are astonishing pictures by any standards. From the moment the terrorists struck, in London and Glasgow, what happened was filmed – not by the press or the police, but by members of the public who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
3 Jul 2007

Car Bombs: Inside Vehicle Borne Improvized Explosive Devices (VBIEDs)
In the early hours of Friday 29 June 2007 a sharp-eyed paramedic, attending an incident at a central London nightclub, reported a suspect vehicle to the Metropolitan Police.
3 Jul 2007

What need is there for a public role in the fight against terrorism?
In the wake of the terrorist activities of the past four days, one cannot underestimate the role that the public has played, and will need to play in the future, in countering the terrorist threat.
2 Jul 2007

Failed Terrorist Attacks are Still Terrorist Attacks
The failed terrorist bombings of London and Glasgow allow a collective sigh of relief. Initial analysis suggests that the bombs were viable and if detonated would have caused massive loss of life, injury and damage.
2 Jul 2007

UK Car Bombs: Timing the Attacks
The UK narrowly averted a series of potentially devastating attacks over the weekend in an apparently coordinated plan to detonate vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) in multiple locations.