BBC Security Expert Denies Trump RAF Fairford Terror Plot Claims

A senior BBC security expert has rejected Donald Trump’s claims that an alleged plot to attack a military base was foiled by a US and UK intelligence operation.

Five men were arrested on suspicion of explosive and terrorism offences on Sunday following a tip-off by a farmer about suspicious activity near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

The base has been used by America to launch air raids on Iran since the war began earlier this year.

The farmer who raised the alarm told the BBC: “It shouldn’t be necessary for someone like me to alert RAF Fairford of the presence of three large suspicious vehicles and a group of masked men.”

Her comments contradicted claims by Trump on Sunday night that America and Briain “had them under investigation”

He said: “They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.

“It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know. We worked with a lot of them.

“We had them under view for a long time, and we got them. Thank you.”

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said there was “a clear inconsistency” between Trump’s claims and what appears to have actually happened.

He said: “I would give a lot more credence to what we’ve heard from the eyewitness, from the farmer.

“From people I’ve spoken to yesterday in Whitehall, I’ve been told this was not an intelligence-led operation.

“Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation, Gloucestershire police are leading the response, but there’s no indication that this was a plot where the US and UK were working hand in hand tracking these people. If they were, this wouldn’t have happened.

“So I don’t understand why Donald Trump is saying we have these people under view for a long time. I don’t know where he got that from, because if they did then how on earth were they allowed to wander round Gloucestershire putting on masks and driving vans allegedly with explosives in them?”

Gardner also said claims that Iran were behind the alleged incident “doesn’t make a lot of sense politically” given the regime in Tehran wants to end the war in their country.

He said the only other possible culprits were Russia or UK-based jihadists.

Defence secretary Wes Streeting said the farmer who raised the alarm “has a partial picture” of what led to the five men’s arrests.

He added: “I won’t go beyond that in terms of commenting on operational security matters.”

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