| Posted in | Posted on
Gordon Brown has called on Britain's intelligence agencies to improve their sharing of information as part of a raft of security measures to be introduced following the failed Christmas day bomb attack on a Detroit-bound passenger jet.
Downing Street officials said yesterday that the prime minister's comments did not represent an "Obama-style" dressing- down of the security services. But Mr Brown told parliament the failed attack showed that MI5, MI6 and GCHQ needed "to be able seamlessly to track and disrupt terrorist activity and movements, whether within the UK or beyond".
He was putting Sir Gus O'Donnell, cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, in charge of overseeing closer collaboration between the agencies to help "deliver improvements in the way we collect, share and use intelligence".
Mr Brown instigated a review into how the agencies had performed in tracking 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Nigerian bomber, after it was revealed that security services had been aware of him during his three years as a student at University College London.
Intelligence agents had sent information to US counterparts at the end of 2008 letting them know that Mr Abdulmutallab was in touch with radical Islamists during his time in London, but it was not felt that he represented a threat. His radicalisation by al-Qaeda took place later in Yemen.
David Cameron, Conservative leader, sought to draw political dividing lines with Mr Brown by claiming that his plan for a cabinet-level "national security council", led by the prime minister, and a permanent security adviser, would bring closer ties between the agencies and foreign counterparts.
A Downing Street official said: "There is lots of coordination but we need to make sure that when an intelligence target moves overseas we do not lose track of him."
Mr Brown announced the suspension of twice-weekly commercial flights from Yemen to the UK because of concerns that another attack on western interests could be imminent.
Border officials will for the first time start operating a "no-fly" list, put together by the security services, banning terrorist suspects from travelling to and from the UK. The Home Office's current "watch list", which registers known criminals, terrorists and others considered a threat, would be extended, with those on it subjected to rigorous security checks.
