The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) has on Thursday raised the UK National Threat Level from SUBSTANTIAL, meaning an attack is likely, to SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely in the next six months.
The increase in threat comes following Wednesday’s stabbing in Golders Green in North London, but it is not solely a result of that attack. The terrorist threat level in the UK has been rising for some time, driven by an increase in the broader Islamist and Extreme Right Wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK.
While the UK National Threat Level set independently by JTAC reflects the terrorist threat in the UK, it comes against a backdrop of increased state-linked physical threats which is encouraging acts of violence, including against the Jewish community.
This is an independent, systematic, and rigorous process, based on the very latest intelligence and analysis of internal and external factors which drive the threat.
