Andy Burnham says ‘robust indications Iran performed an element’ in RAF Fairford ‘terror plot’
The Prime Minister said investigators believe foreign actors were involved at the incident near RAF Fairford, which has been used by US bombers to launch air strikes against Iran
Andy Burnham has said he would not hesitate to recall Parliament if necessary(Image: Phil Lewis/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)
Andy Burnham has said there are “strong indications” Iran played a part in an alleged terror plot at an RAF base in Gloucestershire.
The Prime Minister said investigators believe foreign actors were involved in the incident near RAF Fairford, which has been used by US bombers to launch air strikes against Iran in recent months. He added that he would not hesitate to recall Parliament if necessary.
Five British nationals aged between 23 and 25 were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and terrorism in the early hours of Sunday, but have since been released on bail.
Asked if foreign actors had been involved, Mr Burnham told the BBC: “We believe so. There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course it remains an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation.”
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The PM continued: “And of course, we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America. So it’s ongoing. I have held a Cobra meeting as I’ve been here at the Conference in Liverpool. We are on top of it in every possible way imaginable.
“Police in Gloucestershire, our counter-terrorism police, have done an outstanding job. I thank them for that. We will say more in due course, but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part.”
Asked if he would recall Parliament – which is in recess for party conferences until October 12 – Mr Burnham told Sky News: “Well, at this stage, there is not an urgent need to do that, but should that arise, of course, I wouldn’t hesitate. I didn’t hesitate to call the COBRA meeting this week. I wouldn’t hesitate to recall Parliament should that be necessary.”
In other developments, it emerged overnight that one of the five men arrested had dialled 999 himself. The phone call was made around an hour before a farmer said she called 999 at 1.36am on Sunday after discovering three vans blocking a road near the RAF base.
The unnamed farmer has also since detailed the dramatic WhatsApp message she sent to locals warning them of a “bomb plot” at RAF Fairford. The woman in her 50s told neighbours “something very odd is going on in the village” after she encountered a group near her home in Whelford, a village just outside the Cotswolds base, as she returned home from a party.
On Tuesday, counter-terrorism police revealed that petrol was found in the vans that sparked the terror alert, not the explosives originally feared. Met Police Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of UK counter-terrorism policing, said: “A police response was activated in the early hours of Sunday morning due to a range of information that we received.
“Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination, with the support of military assets and forensic experts, and we can confirm that no improvised explosive devices have been found. We have found a quantity of an accelerant, petrol.”
Mr Taylor added that the five suspects released on bail “remain under investigation” and “must adhere to very strict conditions”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said the suspected plot “clearly involves the hand of a foreign actor”, but refused to provide further details, and US President Donald Trump had also said the alleged plot “might be” linked to Iran.
Mr Trump also expressed disappointment that the suspects had been released on bail, saying: “We were involved in (the investigation), but as you know, your fellow countrymen let them go. Well, they didn’t let them go. They put them out on bail. I assume they haven’t watched closely… they should not have done that.”
Villagers living near RAF Fairford, dozens of whom were dramatically evacuated from their homes on Sunday morning, were slowly returning to normal on Tuesday. Police cordons near the base were due to be completely lifted on Wednesday and searches of the London homes of the five suspects are complete.
The five suspects, all UK nationals, are a 24-year-old from Camden, north London; and a 23-year-old, two 24-year-olds and a 25-year-old from Westminster, central London.
