“We know we cannot stop them all, as we failed to stop this one,” Witness L declared, his voice emerging from behind a green curtain in the dock. The Londoner’s involvement in the terror attack at London Bridge is the first time such a person had been able to slip through the agency’s net. However, almost every time Witness L said they would not have made any difference. Yet, Witness L said, even if MI5 had picked up the connections the agency would only have assumed they were “purely social contacts” – not would-be plotters. The first time, Witness L said, was because of the “broader pressure” in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.

Source: The Guardian June 13, 2019 17:55 UTC