Britain is well equipped to prevent terrorist atrocities similar to those seen on the continent in recent weeks, but it remains a question of “when, not if” there is an attack, the Metropolitan police commissioner has said.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said he was hoping to offer reassurance following a number of attacks in France and Germany, but admitted that he was ultimately limited in doing so by the reality of the situation.



“I know that with each new outrage and especially those on our doorstep in Europe, there is a greater sense of fear that Britain will be the next victim in this wave of cruel and mindless mass murder,” he said.



“I feel and understand that fear and as the police officer in charge of preventing such an attack, [I] know that you want me to reassure you. I am afraid I cannot do that entirely.

“Our threat level has been at severe for two years – it remains there. It means an attack is highly likely. You could say it is a case of when, not if.”

Hogan-Howe was speaking in the aftermath of a series of attacks, including four claimed by Islamic State, which have raised public fears about the ability of authorities to protect them. They include the Nice attack on 14 July, when Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, the murder of Father Jacques Hamel, 85, as he celebrated mass in a Normandy church last Tuesday, and attacks in Würzburg and Ansbach in Germany.

The Met commissioner said everyone had watched such incidents with “a terrifying and depressing sense of horror and dread”. However, despite people’s growing concerns, he said there were “lots of things working in our [the UK’s] favour”.

The relationship between MI5, MI6 and police was a “world beater”, Hogan-Howe said, which had helped prevent terror incidents since the murder of Lee Rigby in 2013.

He also pointed to the fact that the UK is an island and has strict gun controls as contributing factors, and referenced “the British way of life and culture”.He said this encompassed the way the majority of officers are unarmed, which he said created a closer relationship with the communities they serve, and “tolerance and acceptance. Our approach to Muslims is no different because these attacks purport to be committed in the name of Islam. We don’t stigmatise the millions of British Muslims whose values and faith completely reject the terrorists’ litany of hate.”

Hogan-Howe outlined specific steps implemented after rampaging gunmen killed 130 people in Paris last November. The number of firearms officers has been increased by 600 to 2,800 and the number of specialists available immediately, 24/7, to tackle any terrorist threat, had risen three-fold, he said.



Hogan Howe acknowledged that what he was saying would not be reassuring to some but ended on a defiant note, urging people to unite to reject the ideology espoused by terrorists. “We will not become like them, we will not hate, we will not be cowed and because of this, they will never win,” he said.