That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and the RAF Fairford live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
You can read our latest report into the foiled attack here:
Counter-terrorism police have confirmed the five men arrested over the suspected bomb plot near RAF Fairford are all British nationals in their 20s.
The men were arrested on Sunday near the base in Gloucestershire, which is being used by the US air force in its operations against Iran.
Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh …
The day so far
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Five British nationals have been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of terror offences at RAF Fairford, police have said. They added that the alleged offences under investigation could have been “actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state”.
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The head of counter-terrorism policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, said on Monday afternoon: “I can confirm that following extensive interviews, and inquiries, the five men who were arrested are being released on police bail this afternoon. To be very clear, this does not mean the investigation is over, they are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry. At counter-terrorism policing we are working within this context every day and we are keeping an open mind in this investigation.”
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The men were pictured on Sunday being apprehended, shirtless, near the RAF base in Gloucestershire, which is being used by the US air force in its operations against Iran. Police said three of them were 24, one was 25 and one 23, and three resided in Westminster, one in Camden and the other in Willesden.
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The suspects were arrested in Whelford on Sunday morning after reports of three vehicles travelling towards the airbase at 12.45am. They were detained on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and preparation of a terrorist act contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act. Counter-terrorism policing said investigators examined the scene overnight and had been carrying out a range of activity that had led to multiple new lines of inquiry.
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Eighty-five households were evacuated from the village on Sunday and a large police and emergency services presence has been there since then. Police said they were using “significant numbers of resources, including military assets” at the location. “We are working hard to minimise disruption to local communities, but ask for their patience, as our work continues at the scene,” they said.
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Officers have been investigating whether Iran may be behind the suspected bomb plot. In July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps publicly noted RAF Fairford’s use by US bombers, warning the UK that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.
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In a statement on social media on Monday, the Iranian embassy in the UK said: “The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran to arrest of five suspects in the vicinity of RAF Fairford base. The circulation of such fabricated speculations, particularly in the aftermath of the criminal acts of aggression committed by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Iranian people, will serve no purpose other than to fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK.
Armed police officers work on a road outside the perimeter of the RAF Fairford airbase.
A farmer who claims to have alerted the police to a suspected terrorist bomb plot at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire has said she has had “no follow-up at all” from the authorities.
The woman told reporters on Monday that she did not see herself as a hero for having reported vans blocking a road near the base while on her way back from a party.
Five men from London were arrested in the village of Whelford, near to RAF Fairford, on Sunday on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences.
The village remained shut off on Monday afternoon, with people evacuated from their homes dispersed to family, friends, hotels and a leisure centre.
The farmer, in her 50s, said she had been travelling home with her husband and a “young lad” who works for them when she spotted the vehicles parked in a “really strange formation”.
She said:
You couldn’t drive between them on the road, and you also couldn’t drive up the farm drive, and I think this has been one of the funny things that people are saying: ‘How could you notice?’ But when you live in Whelford, you notice everything. We all know what cars each other drive, we know who we are, we know the people that cycle through regularly.
She said one of the vans had some “strange sign writing on it” and she initially believed it belonged to undercover police.
She said:
We had a bit of a look at the vans, established there was no one in there, tried to phone the number on the side, just in case we could get it moved so we could drive down to the farmyard, and the number didn’t work.
All five men arrested in RAF base plot are British nationals
The five men who were arrested and subsequently released on bail are all British citizens, home secretary Shabana Mahmood has just told the Labour party conference.
She adds that the scene is “now safe” and the residents living near to the RAF base are now able to return home.
“Let this be a reminder: you will never defeat us,” he says.
Police are considering whether the foiled attack may have involved “proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state”.
Taylor says rapid mobilisation was necessary. He says often these plots involve people seeking “quick financial gain”, rather than being motivated by terrorism.
The police works “hand in glove with MI5” to keep the public safe “from a myriad of threats” and urges people to report anything that does not “look right”.
And that ends the assistant commissioner for specialist operation’s statement on the steps of New Scotland Yard.
Five men to be released on bail later today
Taylor goes on to say that the five men in custody are being released on police bail later today.
“To be very clear, this does not mean the investigation is over,” he says. “They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others.”
The men remain under investigation, he adds.
Head of counter-terrorism policing Laurence Taylor is providing an update outside New Scotland Yard in London.
He says Gloucestershire police received a report of suspicious vehicles in the vicinity of RAF Fairford and arrested five men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and later preparation of a terrorist act, under section 5 of the Terrorism Act.
“The men had been travelling in three vehicles and, overnight, those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination,” he says.
Police remain at the scene and a cordon remains in place. He hopes residents will be able to return to their homes later today.
Andy Burnham to chair Cobra meeting in wake of RAF Fairford incident
Andy Burnham has said he will chair an emergency Cobra meeting later today in response to the RAF Fairfod incident.
Such meetings are convened to handle matters of national emergency or major disruption, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks and major industrial accidents.
Speaking to LBC this afternoon, Burnham said:
What I can say is that I will chair a meeting of Cobra later this afternoon. Just to make sure we have the full picture of the full situation, very clearly, in our sights. And so maybe I’ll say more about that later today.
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Nato’s supreme allied commander Alexus G. Grynkewich has warned the global security environment is “unsettled,” “complex” and “likely to become even more so over the next several years”.
“We were reminded of this again this past weekend in the United Kingdom, where five men were arrested on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act in preparation of a terrorist act near RAF Fairford,” he said.
Speaking to the European parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence, Grynkewich said that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are “collaborating in ways directly counter to all of our global interests.”
He said the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East showed “not only a changing character of warfare, but also a sobering preview of how future simultaneous and potentially protracted conflicts might look: multi-theater conflicts, multi-domain conflicts, and highly autonomous conflicts.” You can read more in our Europe live blog here:
The Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, Roz Savage, whose constituency covers the military base, said she would be writing to the prime minister and the defence secretary with her concerns about the events over the weekend, adding that her constituent’s safety was a priority.
Speaking to reporters in the village of Kempsford, Gloucestershire, which is situated adjacent to RAF Fairford, Savage said:
Ever since it was first announced six months ago that RAF Fairford was going to be used as the base for US military airstrikes on Iran, I’ve been asking questions of the government about whether they can assure my residents, my constituents, of their safety.
They had given that assurance, however, I feel that the events of this weekend do cast that into doubt. It actually makes my blood run cold when I think how close we may have come to disaster this weekend.
But in the longer term, I have a lot of questions about what happened or so nearly happened this weekend.
Who knew what? When did they know it? Where was the ball dropped? What more could have been done to secure the safety and security of my constituents?
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The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has refused to comment on Donald Trump’s claim that the suspects arrested near RAF Fairford had been under surveillance for a long time. Speaking at a meeting on the fringe of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Milband, who took up the post in July, said:
You will understand there is an ongoing investigation and a limit to what I can say.
What I will say is, as I said in my conference speech, I think this emphasises the vigilance we need against the threats that our country faces, including on British soil.
I think that the counter-terrorism police, the intelligence services, the police themselves have done a really important job in arresting the suspects.
Beyond that, sorry to be disappointing, I’m not going to say anymore because it’s a live investigation.
The US air force said its personnel based at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant” but “for operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures”.
The US embassy in London, meanwhile, has warned Americans in Britain to be cautious and mindful of their personal security.
American B-1 and B-52 bombers have taken off from Fairford for operations during the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.
Iran has previously said it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target. But Iran’s embassy in London has this afternoon strongly rejected any speculation linking the country to the arrests of the five suspects near RAF Fairford.
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The Reform leader, Nigel Farage, has told the BBC that the UK has to take national security a lot more seriously as he claims “we have allowed into Britain cells of people who intend to do us harm”.
In a separate interview with LBC, Farage said: “If a farmer coming home from a party at 1am is the person that discovered these people, it does raise questions.”
“Donald Trump is telling you more about the national security situation and about what I privately know, than we, as a country, are being told. We are in a very, serious situation. A very serious situation.”
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Iran rejects suggestion it is linked to airbase arrests
Iran rejected the suggestion that it is linked to the five arrests made at Britain’s Fairford airbase, according to a statement from the Iranian Embassy in London.
It said:
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran to arrest of five suspects in the vicinity of RAF Fairford base.
The circulation of such fabricated speculations, particularly in the aftermath of the criminal acts of aggression committed by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Iranian people, will serve no purpose other than to fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to take appropriate legal measures, as necessary, to safeguard the rights and interests of the country and its people in response to misleading and damaging media narratives.
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Gloucestershire constabulary were initially alerted to three suspicious vans travelling towards RAF Fairford at 12.45am on Sunday and it is unclear what action was taken in the hour that followed.
The local farmer who spotted the vans and a group of masked men said she initially called the Ministry of Defence police but there was no answer, so called 999 at 1.36am and armed police arrived around 10 minutes later, PA reported.
She said the police had “dropped the ball”, telling journalists:
Who knew that a farmer would have to roll their sleeves up and report the activity?
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The counter terror police said the investigation has a “significant” number of resources dedicated to it, with military assets still deployed at the location.
The police confirmed that a cordon remains around the site and will be reviewed later today.
With roughly 85 properties located within the cordon, it is not clear when local residents, who were initially evacuated to Cirencester leisure centre before being relocated to Cotswold District Council’s chambers, will be allowed to return home.
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Five men arrested over suspected bomb plot are all British nationals, police say
The five men arrested over the suspected bomb plot near RAF Fairford are all British nationals in their 20s from London, Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) has said.
In a statement, the counter terror police said they were detained on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and preparation of a terrorist act contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act. They are a 24-year-old from Camden, north London; three men aged 23, 24 and 25 from Westminster, central London, and one aged 24 from Willesden, north-west London.
The police say the suspects, who were arrested in the village of Whelford on Sunday morning, are being held under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and a custody extension has been approved until later today. The CTP are still working to establish a motive for the incident.
Counter Terrorism Policing senior national coordinator, deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans, said in a statement:
This is a hugely complex and large-scale operation, involving local and national policing, the MOD, and local agencies, who are working together to progress the investigation and support for the community.
I know this has been incredibly disruptive for local people, but I’d like to reassure them that our activity is in the interest of national security, but most importantly in the interest of their own safety.
I’d also like to thank the emergency services for their response, including the armed officers who first attended the scene, not knowing what they may face.
I am very aware of the levels of speculation about the motivation behind this incident, and the geopolitical questions that are being raised. However, I ask that at this time, Counter Terrorism Policing are given the space to work carefully and clearly.
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Authorities should have kept a 'closer tab' on the suspects, local farmer says
In an earlier post, we mentioned how the defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said the local farmer who contacted police after seeing a road blocked by “three white vans” near RAF Fairford only had a “partial picture” of events.
The farmer, from the village of Whelford, has now responded to those comments made by Streeting this morning. She told reporters:
I know it’s been said by some of the higher ups today that I didn’t have the full picture, but the picture I had was three extremely unusual vehicles parked in the middle of our village and a group of unknown men running around. So, that’s my picture, I don’t know whether that’s the full picture or not.
She added:
I don’t know how he knows what picture I’ve got, I’ve never met him. Literally nobody in any sort of official capacity has been in touch with me or anyone else in the village, no follow up at all, even now, from the police who had my number when I reported it to 999, so it’s just very odd.
Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that authorities already had the suspects under investigation. Asked about these comments, the farmer told reporters: “I think that’s wonderful, but perhaps they could have kept a closer tab on them.”
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Speaking at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, the defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said he could not give further details about the RAF Fairford incident because there is a live police investigation.
However, he used his speech to stress that the UK-US relationship is “the closest alliance” of any two countries in the world, adding the two nations will always “stand together” against those who wish to cause harm.
“What we saw yesterday from our security services, our armed forces and our police was just a small glimpse of the extraordinary work they do every day around the clock and around the world, behind the scenes and without recognition to keep our country safe,” Streeting said.
Although significant tensions still exist, the relationship between the Trump administration and Downing Street has improved since Andy Burnham became prime minister, as shown in the two leaders’ relatively warm first face-to-face meeting last week at the UN general assembly in New York.
The so-called special relationship had soured under Keir Starmer’s premiership over several issues, including the UK’s decision to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands and an initial refusal by Starmer to allow the use of RAF bases for bombing Iran.
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We would like to speak to people affected by the incident. Were you evacuated? What has been your experience? If you would like to get in touch – perhaps to share an eyewitness account or news tip – then please follow the instructions in our callout here:
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RAF Fairford incident is a reminder of the 'threats' the UK faces, foreign secretary warns
Addressing the Labour party conference in Liverpool, the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said the incident near RAF Fairford is a reminder of the “threats” the UK faces.
“We will always stand up for our security against those who would do us harm,” he told delegates, as he thanked the armed forces, security services and police for their work.
We don’t yet know the nationalities or ages of the five suspects who were arrested, their motivations/exact plans or if anybody else was involved in the suspected plot. We are expecting an update from the police later today that could answer some of these questions.
In Fairford, police have imposed a 400m cordon around the air base and evacuated about residents from 85 homes while the investigation into the major incident continues.
Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from the scene:
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Speaking to reporters yesterday, the US president, Donald Trump, praised British law enforcement for their efforts, describing “the arrest in the UK” as “fantastic”.
“We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great,” he said.
Trump’s comments suggest that the suspects had been under careful surveillance for a long time. But his remarks are undermined by the fact the men were able to get so close to RAF Fairford, with the suspected plot only appearing to be foiled by a member of the public by chance.
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The incident comes as the war between the US and Iran limps on. In July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps noted RAF Fairford’s use by US bombers, warning the UK that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.
Counter-terror police and the security services are searching for the motive. The circumstances of the arrest near the base and prior warnings from Tehran leave an Iranian motive high in the investigators’ and government’s thinking.
But sources warn nothing is being ruled out, including a jihadist or other motive, and the UK threat level remains at severe, the second highest, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Whether there was any foreign involvement forms part of the investigation, and Iran’s ministry of intelligence and security has orchestrated attacks overseas before.
Any proven link with Iran would be a dramatic escalation in hostilities between the UK and Tehran. While several recent incidents in the UK have been linked to the Middle-Eastern country, including the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green, the alleged plot at RAF Fairford appears to be significantly more serious.
You can read more on this story from my colleagues Jamie Grierson, Vikram Dodd and Helena Horton here:
Farmer who called police saw 'large group of hooded and masked men' near RAF Fairford
The farmer who says she sounded the alarm spoke at length to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. Here is some of what she said:
I was coming home late from a party. On reaching our farm, I found both the driveway and the road blocked by three white vans… We had noticed some activity from what I assumed were plain-clothed police officers for the previous few days, so initially I thought perhaps this was more of the same.
I had no choice but to turn my vehicle around and return back the way I came. On driving a short distance from the vans, I saw a large group of hooded and masked men. When they saw me, they ran ahead of me, some into the field and some towards the neighbouring village of Kempsford.
I then realised that something highly unusual was taking place. In light of my awareness of a security threat to the base, I immediately called the MoD (Ministry of Defence) police, the phone rang out and they didn’t answer.
At 1.36am I called 999 to report what I had seen. Within 10 minutes, the village was full of armed police. I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans.
I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this. The airbase were operating a roadblock close to the entrance to the base, but not on any of the other roads.
But we assumed someone would be monitoring the roads around the base perimeter and taking regular patrols in the village. Clearly, this was not happening, and I believe that my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had.
Even more surprising that, following my call at 1.36am, the police were aware of the presence of the three vans, but didn’t evacuate the village until 6am.
No one from the police has been in touch to ask me anything about it. I think they were hyper-focused and vigilant about the base itself, and had absolutely no regard for our village.
The vans were within metres of houses, and those people were left unaware, apart from the fact that I sent a message to our village WhatsApp group, hoping that some people would be awake and could make sure their doors were locked… I’m just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this.
Streeting thanks farmer who alerted police to suspicious activity but says she only has a 'partial picture'
The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, has spoken to the media from the Labour party conference this morning about the incident near RAF Fairford.
Streeting said he was grateful for the vigilance of the members of the public who are thought to have helped alert the emergency services to the suspected terror plot.
He renewed his thanks in particular to the local farmer who rang the police after she reportedly saw “a large group of hooded and masked men” near RAF Fairford early on Sunday morning.
Speaking to the BBC, the farmer said she thinks “someone dropped the ball” by allowing the suspects and their vehicles to get so close to people’s homes.
Streeting told Sky News:
Thank you to that member of the public. She has done exactly what we would hope that someone in that extraordinary situation would do.
I’m really grateful to her – I think she acted, by her own admission, quickly and thoughtfully, and she did the right thing.
With respect, though, she does only have a partial picture. And that’s as far as I wish to go this morning.
The defence secretary also suggested that UK military bases are potential targets for “state-backed actors” looking to inflict “harm” on the country.
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Police investigate possible Iran link to suspected bomb plot
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of events at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire as counter-terrorism police investigate whether Iran is behind a suspected bomb plot at the base which is used by the US military to carry out missions in the Middle East.
Five men held near the base early on Sunday were initially detained over explosives offences and then were further arrested later in the day on suspicion of the preparation of a terrorist act.
It came after armed officers found explosives on three vans parked minutes from the base. The suspected plot appears to have been foiled by chance when a local farmer spotted unusual behaviour late at night in the countryside from a group of men and called 999.
Dozens of households in the Cotswolds village of Whelford were subsequently evacuated during the operation and have still not returned to their home. Stay with us for further developments.
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