UK intel chief cites terror threat in seeking more powers

Britain’s head of domestic intelligence warns that the level of terrorist plotting against Britain is at its highest level in more than three decades.

MI5 chief Andrew Parker on Thursday uses a BBC Radio interview to call for new powers to monitor communications to track terror plots. He says the proliferation of new Internet technologies poses a difficult challenge. It is the first live broadcast interview given by any British intelligence chief.

Parker says “they are using secure apps and Internet communication to try to broadcast their message and incite and direct terrorism amongst people who live here who are prepared to listen.”

Parker says British police and security services had intervened to foil six terrorist plots in the last 12 months, more than at any point in his 32-year career.

— AP