Miliband heaps praise on 'world-leading' UK counter-terror police in wake of RAF Fairford arrests
Five people had been arrested on terror and explosives charges after a suspected bomb plot near the Gloucestershire airbase on Sunday morning
The Foreign Secretary has praised the UK's "world-leading" counter-terror police as he stressed public safety was the government's "absolute number one priority" after five suspects were arrested close to RAF Fairford.
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Asked by LBC's Andrew Marr if the British public were safe following the arrests linked to a suspected terror plot at RAF Fairford early on Sunday, Ed Miliband praised the UK's "top-class and world-leading" counter-terror police.
"We take the safety of the public so seriously. It's our absolute number one priority," he told Andrew.
"And I do want to say, because I think there's been some people speculating about this, from what I know and what I've seen in the last 2 months in this job, the work that our intelligence agencies, our police, those who deal with counter-terrorism do is absolutely, top-class and world-leading, and I think that has been the case in this incident too."
It comes as counter-terror police said five people had been arrested on terror and explosives charges after the suspected bomb plot near the Gloucestershire airbase on Sunday morning.
The five men, who are all British nationals from London and aged in their 20s, have been bailed and remain under investigation.
Detectives are investigating whether Iran is linked to the foiled bomb plot. No motive has yet been established for any potential plot near the base, which is used by the US military. Iran has said it "categorically rejects" any involvement in the plot.
Read more: Five arrested near RAF Fairford on terror and explosives charges released on bail
Read more: Andy Burnham to chair emergency Cobra meeting 'later this afternoon' following RAF Fairford arrests
Earlier today, the Prime Minister convened a meeting of COBRA, the Government's emergency committee, to ensure ministers "have the full picture".
Mr Miliband said Andy Burnham's decision to chair the meeting this afternoon was a "sign of how seriously the Prime Minister and the whole Cabinet takes this".
He added there was a "very narrow limit" on what he could say about the incident.
"This is an ongoing investigation, an investigation led by the counter-terrorism police, and I think what's important is that we let the police the agencies and others do their work to investigate what happened," he told Andrew.
"And so, as I say, we're taking it very seriously. We always take these issues really seriously— any threat or attempted threat to our country and indeed our military."
Iran's London embassy said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” of Iranian involvement, while police asked to be given space to work amid “geopolitical questions” around motivation.
The alarm was sounded by a villager in Whelford who dialled 999 after she saw three vans and a group of masked men near the base. Dozens of homes had to be evacuated as bomb disposal teams were called in.
On Monday, Counter-Terrorism Policing (CTP) said that multiple new lines of inquiry have emerged after investigators were working at the scene overnight.
In the wake of the arrests, Nigel Farage said it was clear that the UK and America had been working together “for a very long time, looking at what the threats to (RAF) Fairford and probably Lakenheath are as well.
“So, let’s find out what their motives are, let’s find out more.“But my point remains, that for a country to remain safe, it has to control who comes into it.”
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump told reporters the suspects were looking to “do big damage”, while on Monday, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the UK must not be “cowed by sabre-rattling from Iran” or allow the country to “dictate our foreign policy” while stressing it was “too early to attribute background aims”.
The police operation was not intelligence-led, meaning investigators had not known about any potential plot in advance.
The arrests come amid heightened concerns around the threat from hostile states to the UK, with Russia and Iran among those that have used proxies to commit crimes on their behalf.