It may “only a matter of time” before there is a terror attack in Britain amid the heightened tensions in the Middle East, an expert has said.The warning comes as the head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command called for extra vigilance as the Christmas season gets underway.

Terror expert Chris Phillips warned the festive period is a top priority for those responsible for keeping Britain’s streets secure. He said: “Sadly, it may only be a matter of time before we have a terrorist incident within the UK.”

Mr Phillips, who specialises in counter-terrorism, told GB News: “We’ve seen them across Europe and of course with the tensions in the Middle East, that’s something that really could cause problems within the UK as well.

“They don’t have to have been trained or radicalised by anybody in the Middle East. They have access to all of the pictures that are coming out. That can be enough to trigger people.”

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Figures released by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday (November 29) show nationally the public made about 13,000 reports to counter terrorism police in the year ending March 2023. One fifth of these were particularly useful to investigations, according to Scotland Yard.

The current threat level in Britain is “substantial,”, meaning an attack is likely. The level falls below “severe”, which means an attack is highly likely, and “critical”. That signifies that an attack is highly likely in the near future.

Commander Dominic Murphy, who heads Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command, praised members the public for reporting things which don’t “feel right”. He said in a statement: “The current threat level for terrorism is ‘substantial’ so everyone needs to be vigilant. Please trust your instincts and contact us if something doesn’t feel right.”

The Met saw a surge in public reporting after the conflict between Israel-Hamas erupted. From October 7-25, the number of public reports made via the terror hotline and website were double that of the same period last year, according to the force.

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The Met’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit – which identifies and seeks to remove terrorist and extremist content from the internet – has taken down more than 322,000 pieces of harmful content since 2015. Much of that content has been referred to the unit by members of public who the Met said had acted on their instincts.

Earlier in November, the Met revealed officers had made a number of arrests as part of investigations into terrorism and hate crime offences linked to the Israel-Hamas war. A man, 37, was arrested in west London on November 17 as part of an investigation into Hamas-related posts online. He was arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism and showing support for a proscribed organisation. The man was later released on bail.

Warnings of the need to be vigilant also come as forces report increases in antisemitism and Islamophobia. The latest figures from Greater Manchester Police for the 12 months to the end of October show the majority of hate crimes recorded across the force’s patch were religiously motivated, accounting for 935 out of the 10,637 reported hate crimes. This is an increase of 70 crimes or eight percent on the previous 12 months, according to GMP.

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GMP recorded in October 105 religiously motivated hate crimes, which is an increase of 46 or 77 percent on the previous month. Of those, 53 were antisemitic and 28 were Islamophobic.

Supt Rachael Harrison said in a statement: “I have heard first-hand from people in our communities about the devastating impact of religiously motivated hate, particularly during these challenging times. We commend the bravery of individuals who have come forward to report hate incidents and emphasize the importance of continuous reporting.”

If you see something which doesn’t feel right, report it online at gov.uk/act or call the police to discuss your concerns in confidence on 0800 789 321. In an emergency, call 999.

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