Home Secretary visits Heathrow after deadly uranium discovered to say thank you to airport staff
THE Home Secretary visited Heathrow yesterday to thank airport staff for their “diligent work” in uncovering smuggled uranium.
Suella Braverman saluted Border Force officials who detected the nuclear material being brought into the UK.
The Sun told how the radioactive cargo – possibly stashed among scrap metals as part of a ‘terror dry run’ – was feared to be destined for a dirty bomb or assassination bid.
Former Attorney General Braverman, 42, thanked airport-based staff for their particular dedication during industrial action over the festive period.
She told The Sun: “Border security is one of my main priorities and I will never compromise on this. I wanted to thank Border Force staff for their diligent work in keeping our borders safe.
“Border Force continues to prevent and break dangerous supply chains that are harmful and exploitative, that fuel violence on our streets which our communities are forced to endure.
“That’s why I’m delighted to be at Heathrow to meet staff and thank them for all their hard work over recent months.
“It’s been great to meet the teams and see how our border is secured at the country’s busiest airport.
“And I’d particularly like to thank the Border Force team for their discovery of radioactive material in a package before the New Year.
“This shows how our state of the art systems are able to detect suspect packages coming into the UK and I know counter-terror police are now exploring all avenues with regards to their investigation.”
Scotland Yard’s head of counter-terrorism pledged to “follow every avenue” to find out who was behind the plot.
The Sun told how uranium was spotted during radiation checks of cargo at Heathrow on December 29.
The shipment, originating from Pakistan, was put on an Oman Air flight for delivery to Iranians based here.
Security services and police are now in a race against time to identify the intended recipients.
Met Commander Richard Smith said: “We will follow every avenue to see what the background to this was and satisfy ourselves that there’s no further threat.”
He said there was currently no public health risk. Police said no arrests have been made so far.
But Philip Ingram, a former senior military intelligence officer, said: “It is definitely a possibility that this could have been some form of reconnaissance or dry run to test how the security was operating during the industrial action.”
Pakistan’s High Commission was not aware of any further details of the suspected plot.
Former Army chief Chip Chapman said the uranium could have been used for an assassination similar to that of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, 44, in 2006.
He died three weeks after his tea was spiked with radioactive isotope polonium-210 during a London hotel meeting with two Russian spooks.