The Security Service does not have a Press Office and does not comment on intelligence matters. The Home Office issues statements relating to our work from time to time and we link to these on this page, along with any other relevant official announcements. This page also highlights new features added to our website. Earlier news items may be accessed via the archive links on the right.
SECURITY SERVICE DIRECTOR GENERAL TO RETIRE (15/12/2006)
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller will retire in April 2007 as the Security Service's Director General. She joined the Service's Management Board in 1993, became Deputy Director General in 1996 and Director General in 2002. In a statement, Dame Eliza said:
"By April 2007 I shall have been an officer of the Security Service for 33 years, the last ten as either Director General or Deputy Director General. I decided in early 2005 that it would be time by then to step down." The Home Secretary, Dr John Reid MP, paid tribute to her achievements: "Eliza has given 33 years of dedicated service to the nation and we owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude."
GOVERNMENT SETS OUT COUNTER-TERRORISM PLANS (15/11/2006)
In the Queen's Speech, delivered by Her Majesty The Queen on 15 November, the Government set out its plans for tackling the ongoing threat of terrorism. A review of capabilities and resources, chaired by the Home Secretary, is already underway. The Government has announced that if the review identifies gaps, legislation will be brought before Parliament to fill those gaps, taking into account lessons learned in recent counter-terrorist operations. Any such legislation would cover the whole of the UK. Click on the headline to read the Home Office's background note on the counter-terrorism provisions set out in the Queen's Speech (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
BLAIR: THREAT OF TERRORISM IS VERY REAL (11/11/2006)
In remarks to the press following the recent speech by Security Service head Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has stated his support for Dame Eliza's comments on the threat of terrorism. Mr. Blair said that "I believe she is absolutely right in saying that it will last a generation and it can only be combated in the end, not just by proper measures on security ... but in addition [it requires] that we take on and combat the poisonous propaganda of [terrorists] that warp and pervert the minds particularly of young people." He warned that the threat of terrorism is "very real", requiring a "very long and deep struggle" that "must be taken seriously," and noted that the Government is considering ways to strengthen the laws on terrorism.
DIRECTOR GENERAL WARNS OF TERRORIST THREAT (10/11/2006)
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the Director General of the Security Service, gave a speech at Queen Mary College, London on 9 November 2006 in which she warned of the continuing threat of terrorism and described how the Security Service and others were combating it. She was addressing an invited audience of academics, students and journalists as a guest of Professor Peter Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History on behalf of the Mile End Group. The Group is an arm of the Mile End Institute for the study of British Government, Intelligence and Society.
TERRORIST JAILED FOR LIFE (07/11/2006)
A British man who planned to blow up targets in the UK and US was jailed for life today. Dhiren Barot proposed to carry out a series of attacks on trains, financial institutions and other targets in London, New York and Washington, but was arrested in August 2004 before he could carry out his plans. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to murder at a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in October 2006.
