New terror warning system rates threat as severe

Britain faces a "severe" terrorist threat - meaning that an attack is "highly likely", and will remain so for a long time to come - under the system of public warnings unveiled yesterday by the home secretary, John Reid.

Mr Reid also said that he intended to continue to impose control orders on terror suspects, despite two high court rulings that they breached human rights laws. The Home Office confirmed last night that a further order had been imposed since Mr Justice Sullivan's ruling that they amounted to "an affront to justice", bringing the total in force to 15 - six on British nationals.

The home secretary is battling against both rulings in the court of appeal.

The public system of five different threat levels, ranging from "normal" to "critical" will be introduced next month in response to criticisms that the existing secretive, but widely leaked, system is complicated and misinterpreted. However, the intelligence which led to the threat assessments will remain secret, as will the measures the police and security services take in response to intelligence.

The assessments will be made on the "best judgment" of the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (Jtac), based at MI5's headquarters. Senior Whitehall officials said yesterday that an attack may come without warning, as it did on July 7 last year when there was no intelligence.

The officials said the threat levels applied in general terms to the whole country, and not to an immediate threat to a specific target. Controversy over the existing system erupted when it emerged that Jtac had lowered the threat level a month before the July 7 suicide bombings. It then raised the threat level to "critical", the highest. It was about to downgrade the threat on the morning of the failed attacks of July 21.

It is now at "severe (general)", indicating that an attack is a "priority for the terrorists and is likely to be mounted".

As Mr Reid was publishing a detailed counter-terrorism strategy in the Commons, Tony Blair was preparing to meet the Algerian president today to secure a "no torture" agreement so that Algerian terror suspects in Britain - the majority of the 27 held pending deportation - can be sent back.

Whitehall officials have given up hope that they will be able to secure a formal "memorandum of understanding" with Algeria. Instead the Foreign Office is hopeful that a "deportation with assurances" deal will be struck alongside a separate extradition agreement.

The Home Office disclosed yesterday that a third element of Mr Blair's 12-point action plan has also fallen by the wayside. After consultations the prime minister has given up his attempt to impose a maximum time limit on extradition cases involving terrorism. He has already dropped his plan to close mosques which are used to foment extremism.