Government made Al-Qaeda threat seem ‘much more dramatic’ than it actually was by stationing tanks and armed soldiers outside Heathrow Airport, documents reveal

Tony Blair’s government made the Al-Qaeda terror threat seem ‘much more dramatic’ than it was by stationing hundreds of British soldiers and armoured vehicles in a ‘ring of steel’ around Heathrow, newly-released files have revealed.  

Cabinet ministers admitted they were blown away by scale of the military contingent deployed to guard the UK’s second busiest airport back in February 2003.

In striking scenes, around 450 heavily armed troops – some in armoured Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles – were deployed to the site in an operation personally authorised by the prime minister.

The move, reportedly in response to warnings that terrorists had managed to obtain surface-to-air missiles which could be used to bring down a passenger jet, prompted widespread public concern.

Files released by the National Archives at Kew, west London, show that then Home Secretary David Blunkett told the Cabinet that while the deployment had been agreed with the security services and the military, they had not been expecting such a huge show of force.

‘The armed forces had not been expected to use their military hardware quite so visibly and this had, perhaps, led to the threat seeming more dramatic than was in reality the case,’ he said, according to the minutes of the meeting.

He said the action had been authorised in response to a ‘specific terrorist threat’ identified by the security services, but did not go into detail.

‘The security services were continuing to work on assessing the threat but were having to strike a difficult balance between intervention and surveillance,’ he added.

The deployment was in response to a potential Al-Qaeda missile attack

But the huge ‘ring of steel’ formed by the military around the airport left government ministers stunned. Pictured are soldiers patrolling the airport with armed police 

In discussion, ministers dismissed claims the deployment operation was ‘merely a tactic’ to build support for the impending invasion of Iraq by British and US forces as ‘absurd but not surprising’.

But with the threat of Islamist terrorism on the rise after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, they acknowledged lessons needed to be learned so as not to create unnecessary public alarm in the face of future incidents.

‘Unfortunately, greater threats were likely from time to time for the foreseeable future and the government and the public would have to learn not to overact to them,’ the minutes noted.

‘In the past, IRA threats had been part of the nation’s life and there had been less hysteria in the way they were covered by the press.’

At Heathrow, troops from the 1st Battalion the Grenadier Guards and the Household Cavalry Regiment were brought in to guard the critical travel hub.

Soldiers, armed with SA80 assault rifles patrolled the airport complex alongside armed police. 

Convoys of army vehicles and police cars included several Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles which spent short periods at the terminals and other sites. 

Scimitars, which resemble small tracked tanks, can travel at up to 50mph and were last deployed at Heathrow in 1994 after a failed IRA mortar attack from outside the perimeter fencing. The shells failed to explode and no one was injured.

In striking scenes, around 450 heavily armed troops – some in armoured Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles – were deployed around the UK’s busiest airport in February 2003 in an operation personally authorised by the prime minister

Two British soldiers are seen patrolling Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport in February 2003

Armed police stand guard next to soldiers in a Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle

Pictured are British soldiers travelling in an armoured vehicle outside of Heathrow Airport  

In a statement at the time, Scotland Yard said: ‘From time to time it is necessary to raise levels of security activity. We think it is prudent to do so now. 

‘The current strengthening of security is precautionary and is related to action being taken in other countries and the possibility that the end of the religious festival of Eid may erroneously be used by Al-Qaeda and associated networks to mount attacks.’

The newly-released files also revealed Tony’s Blair’s Labour government pressed ahead with unrestricted migration from eastern Europe despite mounting concerns among senior ministers, according to newly-released official files.

The papers showed deputy prime minister John Prescott and foreign secretary Jack Straw both urged delay, warning of a surge in immigration unless some controls were put in place.

But others – including David Blunkett – argued the economy needed the ‘flexibility and productivity of migrant labour’ if it was to continue to prosper.

The files from their discussions leading up to the EU’s enlargement in May 2004 suggest the government knew its immigration claims were ludicrously low.

Ministers had insisted between 5,000 and 13,000 migrants would come each year when former Soviet bloc countries such as Poland joined the EU on May 1 that year.

In the end, more than a million people from eight new member countries made the UK their home.