UK terror threat level raised to ‘severe’ following Liverpool explosion

The UK’s terrorism threat level has increased to ‘severe’, meaning that an attack is ‘highly likely’. The last time the threat was raised to this level was November 2020, following a spate of terrorist attacks across Europe.

The move comes after a suspected terrorist blew himself up with a homemade bomb in a taxi outside a Liverpool hospital on Remembrance Sunday.

As our Home Affairs Editor Martin Bentham reports, taxi driver David Perry, 45, has been hailed as a hero for preventing “an absolutely awful disaster” as Boris Johnson saluted his “incredible presence of mind and bravery”.

Mr Perry is reported to have locked the doors of his cab after becoming suspicious of his passenger, who was still inside the vehicle when it exploded.

Dramatic video footage of the blast shows Mr Perry’s taxi pulling up outside Liverpool’s Women’s Hospital shortly before 11am. As smoke and fire engulfed the car, he can be seen opening his driver’s door and stumbling out before running to safety. Flames consumed his cab moments later.

Police are still assessing whether there might have been a link to the Remembrance events. Detectives have arrested four people under terrorism laws.

Elsewhere in the paper, Philip Collins writes that no one should pretend MPs with second jobs are employed for their strategic genius.

Meanwhile, did you know that Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel, is older than her husband? No one ever seems to talk about it. Anyway, Melanie McDonagh, says they are happy, so why the hostility? Well, there is the issue of how they met...

And finally, after the worst 18 months in retail history, luxury brands are making their new stores hyper-local for the creative crowd. Hannah Marriott heads to Shoreditch’s biggest openings to see why London’s high fashion stores are heading east.

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