Mayor appoints former Metropolitan Police Authority chair Lord Harris to examine how city would cope with multiple attacks

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

London’s ability to tackle a major terrorist attack is to be reviewed by the former chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Sadiq Khan has announced. 

The London mayor said the review of the city’s response – coming after the recent attacks on Paris and Brussels – would be led by Lord Harris, a former London Assembly member who oversaw the Met’s national counter-terror strategy for the Home Office. 

“Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe,” the mayor said. 

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The review will look at how the city would cope if multiple attacks were launched, examining the arrangements in place across all the emergency services. 

Khan said: “I want to be reassured that every single agency and individual involved in protecting our city has the resources and expertise they need to respond in the event that London is attacked.” 

The emergency services along with Transport for London, the Port of London Authority and local government representatives will be contacted as part of the review, which is expected to release its findings in the summer. 

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: “Although we are confident the Met can deal effectively if terrorists did strike our city, and we test ourselves regularly, we are never complacent about the city’s security and recognise that there will always be ways in which we can improve.”