What does the Paris attack mean for British security?

The method used in the Paris attack echoes one of the scenarios that British intelligence agencies fear the most: a small group of gunmen bursting into a building, opening fire and shooting indiscriminately.

Like the 2008 shootings in Mumbai, the gunmen in France appear to be highly skilled terrorists using powerful weapons.

For several years, preventing a ‘Mumbai-style attack’ or a more rudimentary ‘lone wolf’ attack, has occupied an increasing amount of the work done by British security services.

That, and the proximity of today’s attack to the UK, will cause inevitable concern for the agencies that look after our national security. However, the Paris attack is unlikely to affect security levels here in Britain.

The UK’s terror threat level is currently assessed as ‘severe’, meaning Britain is already being policed as if an attack is imminent.

For national security to be increased further, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre would have to elevate the terror threat level from ‘severe’ to ‘critical’. That would require a specific, credible threat against the UK. We can safely assume there hasn’t been one.