Keystone Kops Alert from the UK, via the Daily Mail (thanks to Sr. Soph):
The head of MI5 told Labour MPs the day before London’s 7 July bombings that there was no evidence of an imminent attack in Britain, it emerged today.
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller gave the assurance at a private meeting of Labour whips at the Commons less than 24 hours before four explosions killed 52 people on Tube trains and a No 30 bus.
She also reportedly said that the security situation was under control.
Although the revelation that the security services were caught unawares by the attack is no surprise, the MI5 director general’s apparent confidence will add to pressure on the security service over its failure to prevent the bombings.
Details about how much MI5 knew about the bombers” ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan, and fellow bomber Shehzad Tanweer, which cannot be disclosed at the moment for legal reasons, are expected to be made public in the next two months.
It is already known that officers had listened in to conversations involving the pair, although neither man had been identified prior to the bombings because investigations had focused on others who were thought at the time to be a greater danger.
Instead, the pair were only known as unidentified males of Pakistani origin. It was only after the bombings that the connection was made.