RWB News: I'm calling bullspit. First off, Obama didn't address the Christmas bomber for 5 days. Secondly, this is a repeat of a few weeks ago with the administration making statements before verification has been made or other nations are informed. I smell a rat, and it's called an October surprise that BACKFIRED.
By Andrew Porter and Richard Evans Telegraph.co.uk
The Prime Minister had spent the day in Brussels. At lunchtime he held a press conference to talk about the European summit.
Mr Cameron confidently fielded questions on the EU budget, the rows over housing and child benefits and even chided the BBC for its own budget and its ability to send several frontline reporters to cover the Brussels gathering.
There was no hint that something – a credible terrorist plot – was about to seize the news agenda.
At 11pm last night officials released a statement saying a meeting of Cobra, the government's emergency group, had taken place yesterday.
But Downing Street remained silent.
Two weeks earlier Mr Cameron had delayed the start to a rare Downing Street press conference as news of a bungled American attempt to rescue British hostage Linda Norgrove emerged from Afghanistan.
This time he went on with his press conference, apparently unaware of the drama unfolding as he spoke. He was not briefed until shortly after 2pm, 10 hours after the package was found and 16 hours after Barack Obama, the US President, was informed of the threat.
Only at 7:45pm was a statement released by Theresa May, the Home Secretary.
She said: "Safety and security of the UK remains my number one priority. We are working closely with our international colleagues and will continue to do so.
"A suspect package was discovered during a search of a cargo flight at East Midlands airport. This is currently being examined.
"The package originated in Yemen and was addressed to a destination in the US. At this stage there is nothing to suggest that any location in the UK as being targeted.
"We are urgently considering what steps need to be put in place regarding security of freight originating from Yemen. For security reasons there are currently no direct flights from Yemen to the UK."
There were also questions last night about the confused response from British police, who were only prompted to admit the package had been found after reports emerged in the US – 13 hours after the event.
It was Mr Obama who broke the news that explosives had been discovered in the packages, a suggestion police sources in Britain had earlier dismissed.
It appeared that the initial investigation, carried out by local police in Leicestershire, failed to unearth the explosives within the parcels.
It was only when Scotland Yard's specialist terrorism officers became involved, several hours later, that the seriousness of the threat was realised.
Leicestershire constabulary responded to the initial alert and discovered the package at around 3.30am. After an initial examination appeared to uncover nothing suspicious, police sources played down its significance as one of the many suspect packages reported every day to officers.
The alert at the airport was lifted before 10am, only to be re-imposed at 2pm as police and forensic teams re-examined the packages, seemingly after new intelligence emerged. It was not until 5pm, as news broke in the US, that police formally confirmed a suspicious package had been found.
Sources continued to suggest there were no explosives present, and Scotland Yard said it was not involved.But an hour later, detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command said they had taken over the inquiry.
At 7pm, two hours before President Obama said explosives had apparently been found, Leicestershire police issued a statement that the "East Midlands Airport incident has been resolved."
swenbwr
