UK chemical terror alert over ‘suspicious activity’ after Taylor Swift concert bomb plot foiled in Austria
A TERROR alert about plotters buying or stealing chemicals has been issued in Britain after the Taylor Swift bomb plot was foiled.
Equipment and other items to make explosives were found at the home of a teenage IS fanatic in Austria.
He had stockpiled hydrogen peroxide, used to make TATP explosives — dubbed Mother of Satan — to target the singer’s concerts in Vienna.
UK police and security services assessed the threat — leading to the Home Office warning yesterday about suspicious chemical activity.
Chris Phillips, former head of the UK’s National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said: “There is constant advice about reporting anything suspicious about chemicals or storage facilities.
“But the timing of this advisory is interesting and is probably in response to events in Austria.”
Security consultant Mr Phillips said people should be wary of anyone they do not know ordering chemicals or anything suspicious.
He added: “It is about taking sensible precautions.”
Taylor will play five dates at Wembley from Thursday, and they are still going ahead.
The Met says there is no intelligence to suggest any danger at her last European leg of The Eras world tour.
Two other suspects, one a 17-year-old working at the Vienna venue, and a boy of 15 have been held over the plot.
A British study of 27 IS-linked plots since October last year revealed that of 58 suspects arrested, 38 were aged between 13 and 19.
They are said to have been brainwashed on the internet by emerging group ISIS-K, which was blamed for the Moscow concert hall attack which killed 145 in March.