Threat
Newspaper headlines: Queen's Guard 'terror threat',
rail 'chaos' and honours tips
The status of the
Royal guards comes under scrutiny. The Sunday Mirror says Islamist extremists
have been plotting to kill members of the elite Queen's Guard who stand sentry
outside key royal homes. The soldiers, who wear distinctive uniforms and
bearskin hats, have been repositioned behind fences, it says.
The threat of
terrorism on British shores is once again on front pages, with some papers
reporting that soldiers guarding royal palaces have been moved for their
safety.
Members of the Queen's
Guard are said to have been positioned behind fences, with armed police
protection, in case of attack from a "lone wolf" terrorist - from an
extremist group such as Islamic State. As the Mail on Sunday
points out, at Prince Charles's residence
Clarence House: "Tourists, who love to pose with the guards, can now
barely see them."
Police
counter-terrorism adviser Sally
Leivesley writes in the Sunday Mirror: "As a target it
is incredibly significant for these groups to kill a British soldier in their
home country. An attack would be a hugely powerful signal."
Remembering the street
killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby in south-east London in May 2013, the paper
comments: "This is not a step taken without good grounds... It is sad, of
course, that such a long, well-loved tradition must be changed. But the alternative is too dreadful to
contemplate."
The Mail on Sunday,
however, hopes the retreat is temporary.
"These disciplined soldiers could easily defend themselves in a fair
fight. They are accustomed to close contact with the public, and have long
tolerated, with astonishing patience and good humour, some quite unpleasant
teasing by a minority of tourists. How can they be sure that such encounters
are not the start of something much more serious? No doubt it is better for the
Palace and the Army to take precautions now than to weep later because they did
not."
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reports
that al-Qaeda is advising such "lone
wolf" jihadists to target Easyjet and BA flights with bombs. The paper
says an article in the group's online publication recommends the airlines
because they carry "a large number of passengers" and so will secure
media coverage…
Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-30614281
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