Tipsheet

Islamic State Will Attack UK Says Former Spy Boss

WESTMINSTER, United Kingdom - Britain will be the scene of a major terror attack, it is not a matter of 'if' but 'when' according to a security source. A former intelligence officer said over 450 Jihadis in the UK are being monitored, along with a total of 25 major plots each on the scale of the Brussels attack.

The source told the Daily Express newspaper that: “Everyone in the counter-terrorism community believes an attack in Britain will take place."

He added: "The pace of investigations to try and stop this happening is extremely dynamic and fast-moving. There is no respite and no sign of the threat to Britain going away. The shocking thing about what happened in Paris and the ongoing situation in Brussels is their ability.

“They have shown a high degree of organisation – more than was previously suspected – a strong logistical chain, the ability to get the material needed, guns, explosives, planning.”

Europe is now on high alert, with the border-free Schengen agreement between countries being effectively abandoned by a number of countries. According to the UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP there are a total of 5000 trained ISIS 'war veterans' in the EU.

Mr Farage also claimed the weapons used in last years Paris attack had come across the border because of the Schengen Agreement. He said the problem was being made worse by the arrival of hundreds of thousands from North Africa.

Farage was denounced in the media for making the claim shortly after the Brussels attack, a move the BBC described as ‘insensitive’.

The last major terror attack on the UK was July 7 2005, when four suicide bombers blew themselves up on the London transport network. A total of 52 people were killed, with hundreds more left injured or traumatized.

The attack came the day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, and the capital was waking up from the resultant night of celebrations. It became known as the 7/7 attack, using a similar date format as the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Jihadis have warned that the Brussels bombs were "just the start" of a major campaign in Europe. The attack claimed 35 lives including four Americans, two of whom have been named as Justin and Stephanie Shults .

The White House confirmed President Obama had called the parents of the couple to offer his condolences.