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 Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:26 pm Post subject: Brown to create US-style security council |
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| Quote: | By James Kirkup, Political correspondent
Last Updated: 1:45am BST 27/10/2007
Britain is to get a US-style national security council as Gordon Brown plans an overhaul of counter-terrorism work at Whitehall.
Mr Brown is preparing to publish a new National Security Strategy that will supersede much of Tony Blair's policy and give the Prime Minister greater control over Britain's fight against extremism.
The document will also set out to the public what insiders call the "truly frightening" extent of radical Muslim activity in Britain.
The new plan, expected next month, will take priority over Project Contest, Mr Blair's cross-government strategy that has guided British counter-terrorism since 2004.
Home Secretary, will also shed new light on the work of MI5 and MI6, as the Prime Minister moves to restore public confidence in the intelligence agencies eroded by Mr Blair's case for war in Iraq.
The most significant change will be the creation of a national security council, modelled on the US government body. It would include senior ministers, intelligence chiefs and military commanders.
In an evolution of Mr Brown's "big tent" politics, there is even speculation that he could appoint politicians from outside the Labour Party. Either Paddy Ashdown or Sir Menzies Campbell, both former Lib Dem leaders, could be asked to join.
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Creating a national security council would complete a US-style management structure for Whitehall.
Like a US president, the Prime Minister already has a dedicated national security adviser, Charles Farr, a senior civil servant who runs the little-known Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism.
The dramatic shake-up has been driven by the conclusion that existing policies and structures are inadequate to the task of meeting the terrorist threat facing Britain.
MI5 is monitoring more than 2,000 people it suspects of involvement in extremism. At any given time, the service has more than 30 "active" terrorist cells under observation.
What worries security officials is that those numbers have remained constant for some time, indicating that increasing government efforts have done little to reduce the threat of Islamic extremism.
Gordon Brown's plans build on work by John Reid when Home Secretary
"No one should be re-assured by the fact that things have been quiet recently. During that time, a lot of these people have been re-grouping and mobilising," said one Whitehall source. |
Fullarticle:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/27/nbrown 127.xml
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