MI5 prevented nine terror attacks in last year

The MI5 has prevented nine terrorist attacks in the past year, its boss has told Downing Street officials. The domestic security service has also said that 13 terror attacks were prevented in the past four years. Andrew Parker, head of MI5, told the cabinet of the number of prevented attacks. He warned that social media was being used as a means to incite terrorist attacks from a distance. The figures have been released ahead of the publication of an investigation into the internal reviews by the security services and police into a wave of terror attacks in Britain this year. It is meant to assess whether MI5 and counter terror police could have prevented the five successful terror attacks in the UK this year which killed more than 30 people. Attacks at Westminster Bridge, Manchester, London Bridge and Finsbury Park have prompted internal reviews by police and MI5. The reviews were meant to establish what intelligence the security services and police held on the attacks ahead of the attack and identify whether improvements could be made in the way potential terrorists are managed. David Anderson, formerly the independent reviewer of terror legislation, was appointed by the government to provide ‘independent assurance’ of these internal reviews. He submitted his classified report to the Home Secretary in October.