UK intelligence chief says terror threat is worst of career

LONDON (AP) — Britain's domestic intelligence chief warned during a rare public speech today the terrorist threat the country faces has accelerated at an alarming pace and is worse now than at any time in his 34-year career.

M15 Director General Andrew Parker said his agency, also known as the Security Service, is constantly expanding and upgrading its capability, but cannot realistically prevent all attacks targeting civilians.

"In 2017, with all that has happened and much that has not, it is clear that we are contending with an intense U.K. terrorist threat from Islamist extremists," Parker told journalists in London. "That threat is multidimensional, evolving rapidly, and operating at a scale and pace we've not seen before."

He noted a "dramatic upshift" in the threat this year, with successful attacks in London and Manchester that killed 36 people combined.

"Twenty attacks in the U.K. have been foiled over the past four years," Parker said. "Many more will have been prevented by the early interventions we and the police make. There have been a record number of terrorism-related arrests: 379 in the year to June."

He said continental Europe has faced a similar surge, particularly in France, Belgium, Germany and Spain.

"The scale at which we are operating is greater than ever before," he said.

Parker said MI5 has more than 500 live investigations involving roughly 3,000 people known to be involved in extremist activities.