Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, Britain's intelligence agencies have undergone a radical transformation, shifting from traditional tradecraft to a high-tech, joint approach to counter-terrorism. The attacks marked a turning point, accelerating the pace of investigations and reshaping the working lives of spies.
Blair's Pledge and the Declaration of War
Days after the attacks, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, standing feet from a memorial in New York, invoked the Blitz spirit and declared: "My father's generation went through the Blitz, they knew what it's like to suffer this deep tragedy and attacks. There was one country and one people that stood by us at that time and that country was America, those people were the American people."
He continued: "Your loss we count as our loss, your struggle we take as our struggle. The spirit here is something remarkable. That spirit should inspire us to do now what we need to do to see this thing through." This was a declaration of war against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
Radical Changes in Intelligence Operations
Since then, the intelligence community has seen unprecedented change. The old distrust between spies and counter-terror policing has vanished, replaced by close cooperation at the Empress State Building in West London, where the UK response to any attack is overseen. Technical interceptions by GCHQ have had to adapt to an explosion of online radicalisation, particularly from Islamic State.
While a language specialist once listened to real-time phone calls, now artificial intelligence swiftly translates for intelligence officers. The name Osama bin Laden, barely known to Brits on 9/11, catapulted into the public arena, launching the US War on Terror, conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and spreading to Libya and Syria.
The Liquid Bomb Plot and Its Aftermath
Al-Qaeda's ambitions were starkly revealed in the 2006 Liquid Bomb Plot, which aimed to bring down ten planes. MI5 and counter-terror police smashed it, arresting 24 suspects on August 9 in London, Birmingham, High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire. A western security source said at the time: "This is enormous. The biggest and most complex operation. If they had pulled this off the possible result is almost unimaginably horrific. This was the one they wanted after 9/11."
Another source added: "The question of whether 9/11 could happen again is a difficult one because it is known that the desire to do so is always there. Terrorist plots like that need space to organise them as they are immensely complex. But you cannot be complacent and think it won't happen - the desire is there and one thing al-Qaeda is known for is that it is extremely patient. This was proved within five years after 9/11 with the liquid bomb plot which could well have killed as many as the attack on America."
The Rise of ISIS and Modern Threats
Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seal Team Six in 2011, but worse followed with Islamic State, described as 'al-Qaeda on steroids', rampaging through Syria by 2014 and murdering thousands in Iraq until 2018. British intelligence penetrated ISIS, with GCHQ fighting in cyberspace, and now officers engage with counterparts of Mohammed Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda kingpin who became Syrian President.
The threat has morphed into lone-wolf attacks, as highlighted by General Abdul Wahab el-Saadi in June 2023, who warned: "We know ISIS have been talking to UK-based terrorists and we know what they are planning. It is a big attack." His forces uncovered a plot after killing ISIS terrorists in a cave in al-Anbar desert, illustrating how ideas morph from a cave to a car-ramming spree in London's west end. Spies fight this risk daily.
