RAF Fairford live updates: Streeting thanks farmer who alerted police but says she has ‘a partial picture’
Member of the public who contacted police after seeing ‘group of hooded and masked men’ near RAF base says she thinks ‘someone dropped the ball’ over incident • UK security forces aware of suspected bomb plot, hints defence secretary • RAF Fairford suspected bomb plot: have you been affected? Speaking at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, the defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said he could not give further details about the RAF Fairford incident because there is a live police investigation. However, he used his speech to stress that the UK-US relationship is “the closest alliance” of any two countries in the world, adding the two nations will always “stand together” against those who wish to cause harm. Continue reading...
The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, has spoken to the media from the Labour party conference this morning about the incident near RAF Fairford. Streeting said he was grateful for the vigilance of the members of the public who are thought to have helped alert the emergency services to the suspected terror plot. He renewed his thanks in particular to the local farmer who rang the police after she reportedly saw “a large group of hooded and masked men” near RAF Fairford early on Sunday morning.
Speaking to the BBC, the farmer said she thinks “someone dropped the ball” by allowing the suspects and their vehicles to get so close to people’s homes. Streeting told Sky News: Thank you to that member of the public. She has done exactly what we would hope that someone in that extraordinary situation would do. I’m really grateful to her – I think she acted, by her own admission, quickly and thoughtfully, and she did the right thing.
With respect, though, she does only have a partial picture. An