Al-Qa'ida attack on UK 'inevitable'

Al-Qa'ida attacks on Britain are almost inevitable, the Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted last night.

Mr Blunkett told The Independent on Sunday that there were "worrying lapses" in airport security and that "a real threat" still remained to Britain.

His comments, just days before the first anniversary on Wednesday of the 11 September attacks on the US, will heighten fears of further terrorist strikes.

Mr Blunkett, in issuing a stark warning against complacency, said: "The UK and its interests overseas remain a target for al-Qa'ida terrorists who will almost certainly seek to carry out further terrorist attacks, drawing on the network which they have already established. A real threat remains to this country. That is the stark truth."

A spate of near misses in the past week will have done nothing to soothe nerves in the run-up to Wednesday.

German authorities were yesterday holding two people over an alleged bomb plot at a US army base. Meanwhile, Kerim Chatty languishes in jail, charged with the attempted hijacking of a Ryanair jet.