LAST UPDATE | 15 Nov 2021

THE UK’S TERRORISM threat level has been raised to ‘severe’, meaning an attack is deemed highly likely, following yesterday’s deadly explosion at a Liverpool hospital. 

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said the terror threat level had been raised because there had been two attacks in the space of a month.

Speaking to broadcasters, she said: “The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, Jtac, are now increasing the United Kingdom’s threat level from substantial to severe.

And there’s a reason for that, and that reason is because what we saw yesterday is the second incident in a month. 

Yesterday’s explosion in a car outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital came just minutes before a Remembrance Sunday service at nearby Liverpool Cathedral.

That has prompted speculation the event was the intended target, with police designating it as a “terrorist incident”. 

Russ Jackson, in charge of counter-terrorism policing in the region, said the motivation for yesterday’s blast in a taxi was unclear but the device was “built by the passenger” who died.

Patel said the attack had had a “very significant impact across the community” in Liverpool and her thoughts were with people in the city.

“There’s a live investigation taking place right now. They will need the time, the space, to do the work that they are doing in terms of investigating the incident,” she said. 

Patel said the “context” of there being two terrorist incidents in the space of a month was “really important” in the decision to raise the UK’s threat level. 

She added that she could not expand “for obvious reasons”. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a Downing Street press conference this afternoon the attack outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital was “sickening”.

“What yesterday showed above all is that the British people will never be cowed by terrorism, we will never give in to those who seek to divide us with senseless acts of violence,” he said. 

Johnson added that the public should be “vigilant” after the UK terror threat level was raised.

Taxi driver 

Police have said the passenger who died in yesterday’s attack had built the device but its reported that the taxi driver driving the vehicle may have prevented the bomb from reaching its target. 

Jackson told a news conference: “We cannot at this time draw any connection with this but it is a line of inquiry, which we are pursuing.

“Although the motivation for this incident is yet to be understood, given all the circumstances, it has been declared a terrorist incident.”

Three men aged 21, 26 and 29 were arrested under the Terrorism Act soon after the explosion in the nearby Kensington area of the city and were taken for questioning.

A fourth man, aged 20, was detained earlier today, Jackson said, adding that “significant items” had been found at a second address in Sefton Park, near Kensington.

Remarkable escape

The blast and fireball sent thick smoke into the air just seconds before the UK fell silent in tribute to its war dead and military veterans at 11am.

There was immediate praise for the taxi driver, who reportedly locked the passenger — a man — inside the cab after growing suspicious about his intentions.

The passenger had wanted to go to the annual service at Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral, according to UK media quoting investigators and friends of the cabbie.

But road closures forced the taxi to detour and they ended up at the nearby hospital, where the bomb went off just after the driver had escaped, the Daily Mail reported.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said moments before the news conference that it would be premature to comment in detail about the incident, with the investigation ongoing.

“But it does look as though the taxi driver in question did behave with incredible presence of mind and bravery,” he told reporters in London.

Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson said: “The taxi driver, in his heroic efforts, has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster at the hospital.

“We knew that the taxi driver had stood out and locked the doors, we knew that early on,” she told BBC radio, while also warning against further speculation.

Jackson gave few details but said the taxi driver picked up the passenger from the Kensington area and was asked to be taken to the hospital.

“As the taxi approached the drop-off point at the hospital, an explosion occurred from within the car. This quickly engulfed it in flames,” he added.

Remarkably, the taxi driver escaped from the cab. He’s been treated for his injuries that he sustained and he’s now been released from hospital.

2,000 at cathedral

Some 2,000 people attended the religious service of remembrance, one of the biggest outside London, according to the Liverpool Echo newspaper.

The event concluded with a military parade on the closed roads outside the cathedral.

Senior Conservative politician Oliver Dowden said the driver’s actions contrasted with “the cowardice of terrorist attacks”.

“Clearly we’ll have to see exactly what happened there,” the ruling party’s co-chairman told Sky News, stressing reports of the driver’s response had to be confirmed.

“But if that is the case, that’s another example of true bravery and courage,” Dowden said.

The scene at the hospital remained cordoned off on Monday, as did the streets around the two properties under investigation, where forensics officers in white suits were seen.

© – AFP 2021 with reporting by Rónán Duffy