Nick Boles MP's Office Attacked

There has been a "minor explosion" at the constituency office of Nick Boles MP, Conservative (Grantham & Stamford).

A bang and the sound of breaking glass were heard at the junction of North Street and Burghley Street in Bourne, Lincolnshire, around half past one in the morning.

Police said there was only minor damage to the building and no-one was injured. A man has been arrested.

Mr. Boles, said:

"Obviously I deplore this act of violence. The incident is being investigated by the police and I know that everyone will do whatever they can to support the investigation. In the meantime, we should all carry on doing our jobs as normal."

The BBC Reported that Ms Caroline Glithero, who lives nearby, said she heard two explosions about 45 minutes apart.

"I heard two very loud bangs and on the second one I went to see what it was and found a lot of debris and a window broken."

Lincolnshire Police said a 24-year-old man had been arrested and was helping police with their inquiries.

A spokesperson said early indications suggested the incident was not linked to any wider issues or recent events in the county.

Lincolnshire's Members of Parliament have been targeted in recent years, including Gainsborough's Edward Leigh MP who was targeted with hoax anthrax packages last year.

Edward Leigh Responds to Saxilby Terror Attack Link

Edward Leigh MP, who represents the Gainsborough Constituency in Lincolnshire, has said he has ‘every confidence’ in Lincolnshire Police as they assist with the suspected terror attack investigation.

Mr. Leigh was speaking as the Lincolshire Police force was supporting officers from the Metropolitan Police during a search on a house in Saxilby.

It is believed that one of the men arrested in connection with the killing of a soldier in Woolwich on Tuesday used to live in a house on Hotchkin Avenue, Saxilby with his family. Mr. Leigh said:

“Every effort must be made to ensure terrorists feel the full weight of British justice.”

“I have every confidence in Lincolnshire Police and their work in coordination with the Metropolitan Police.”

The Woolwich attack happened at 2.20pm on Tuesday as horrified witnesses, including children, looked on. Eyewitnesses say the victim was hacked to death by two men, named locally as 22-year-old Mr. Michael Adebowale and 28-year-old Mr. Michael Adebolajo. After the attack they waited for police, asking people to film and take photos of them.

One man, thought to be Mr. Adebolajo, was filmed holding a meat cleaver and knife, his hands covered in blood. He told onlookers he carried out the attack because British soldiers are killing Muslims every day.

They were shot as police tried to arrest them, are now under armed guard at separate hospitals in London.

Residents in Saxilby, near Lincoln, have spoken of their shock after police raided the former home of Mr. Michael Adebolajo.

The house, in the normally sedate Lincolnshire village, is believed to belong to his father, Mr. Anthony Adebolajo, understood to be a nurse.

District and County Councillor Jackie Brockway, who represents the Saxilby Ward of West Lindsey District Council and Nettleham & Saxilby Division on Lincolnshire County Council, lives in Sykes Lane, Saxilby. She was on the estate this morning offering to help however she could.

“I heard about this on my way to an appointment and I have come here to give my card with my contact details directly to the police. I want to say that any residents who need support or help to get in touch.

“We want to make sure that everyone is comfortable and not concerned in any way.

“I understand the police have got this very well organised. Obviously it is a serious police operation and it’s important for them to know that the community supports them.

“Regarding the incident in Woolwich I am absolutely horrified that this could happen on the streets of Britain. But I think we must be calm and go about our daily lives and support the authorities in their duties.”

'Nun' Convicted of Sending Hoax Anthrax to Local MP

A 'Roman Catholic nun' has been convicted of sending hoax anthrax packages to senior politicians including Edward Leigh, Member of Parliament for the Gainsborough Constituency, and the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Sister Ruth Augustus, was convicted of sending hoax anthrax packages to senior politicians yesterday. Sister Ruth posted six envelopes containing white powder to the high profile figures. Targets included were former Attorney General Baroness Scotland and human rights lawyer Baroness Kennedy.

An envelope intercepted at a mail screening centre was addressed to Mr. Clegg and on the envelope was written 'devil worshipping', 'freemason', 'sex with 30 plus women' and 'your poor Catholic wife and children'. Another was to Baroness Scotland, and had a swastika on it and two crosses, and 'stop this evil devil worshipping'. One to Baroness Kennedy said 'stop these evil devil worshipping freemasons'.


An analysis of the contents of the packages revealed the substance to be non-hazardous.

According to The Independent Harrow Crown Court heard that when Sr. Augustus, of Stratford, east London, who denied the charges, was arrested she told police:

"I look like a terrorist, don't I, working for a charity all over the world, with orphans?"

A jury took less than two-and-a-half hours to find her guilty by a majority verdict of 11 to one on all counts following a three-day trial.

Mr. Justice Saunders deferred the case until September for a hearing at the Old Bailey while a medical report is prepared on Sr. Augustus' mental health.  She was released on bail on condition that she does not make contact any MP or senior Government official.


Following her conviction, Augustus turned to the public gallery as she left the courtroom and said she would be appealing against the verdict.

EU and US Conclude Swift Agreement

The United States and European Union signed an agreement giving the American government agencies access to all bank transactions within Europe, in the name of anti-terrorism intelligence.

The Swift agreement, named after the Belgian-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication that runs the eponymous intra-bank network, was accepted by the EU on Monday 28th June 2010. It allows American collection of data within Europe and the transfer of information about suspicious transactions to the US. An EU official based in the US will maintain oversight for privacy and against misuse.

The agreement follows an earlier interim agreement to give the US data on all transactions, which was signed last November ahead of changes to the Swift architecture. Originally, Swift had two datacentres — one in the US and one in the EU — which mirrored all bank transactions. From 1 January, 2010, a third datacentre was used in Switzerland to maintain redundancy without having EU data in the US, which would have been against European privacy law.

The interim agreement was subsequently opposed by groups within the EU parliament, including the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), who forced a parliamentary rejection of the agreement in February. The S&D amendments were then incorporated.

The European Parliament has adopted the Swift agreement on Thursday, 8th July 2010 allowing sharing EU citizens' bank data with the US authorities. The text was adopted with 484 votes in favour and 109 against. The supporters of the current version claim that the new text was significantly improved by gaining a number of important concessions from the US. These include the limitation of bulk data being transfer to the US or the role of Europol in overseeing the transfer process.

However, there are concerns that the current agreement does not meet the European privacy standards. There is no prior judicial ruling required for transfer of data, the definition of "terrorism" is very broad and there is still no legal redress available for EU citizens in the US against data transfers or the possibly serious consequences thereof. Also, in practice, Swift can't currently limit data searches to specific individuals or single transactions. Actually, it will have to (and has in the past) transfer data about all transactions from a certain country or a certain bank on a certain date. There have been reports that the US Treasury has received up to 25% of all Swift transactions, which number in the billions each year.

As regards the Europol's position, the EU body is far from a judicial authority and it is now authorized to request information from the US searches in the transferred data, which drastically reduces any incentive to limit the transferred amount of data in the first place.

This agreement entered into force on Sunday, 1st August 2010. The current text will be valid for five years and then automatically extends for one year at a time. In order to terminate the agreement, one of the parties has to take an initiative. Even if it is terminated, all transferred data will remain at the disposal of US authorities. The data provided to the American authorities will be subject to a retention period of five years.

The Agreement between the EU and the USA on the processing and transfer of financial messaging data from the EU to the USA for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program can be read here.

Police Scrutinise Hard-core Racists

Hard-core racists bent on a war against racial minorities are increasingly the subject of scrutiny of the police.

That is the finding of a new report by Nothing British and the Centre for Social Cohesion which is based on an analysis of activities by groups like Blood & Honour and Combat 18, and interviews with police officers close to the case.

Responding to coverage of the report in the News of the World, James Bethell, Director of Nothing British campaign, said:

"it is important that we remain vigilant towards people with an ideological commitment to creating violence between people of different races. In 2001 security services tracked young Islamist radicals at outward bound camps that seemed harmless at the time. Four years later, some of those men had become terrorists who sought to kill innocent civilians on July 7 and 21, 2005. We must not make the same mistake again."

Nothing British, in partnership with the Centre for Social Cohesion, have published a report by Edmund Standing and Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens that highlights the potential threat from white supremacists committed to an agenda of violence against racial minorities.

Denis MacShane MP, Labour (Rotherham) writes in the forward to the report,

"Like their jihadist counterparts, neo-Nazis are filled with hate, are conspiratorial and are prepared (and determined) to use extreme violence to achieve their political aims. If we want to reduce the threat we face from far-right extremism, it is imperative that new systems be put in place, allowing pre-emptive strikes against this budding threat."

The report lists three incidents of recent neo-Nazi-related threats:-

• In July, Yorkshire police raided a neo-Nazi terror cell with international links. They seized the largest suspected terrorist arsenal since the IRA bombings of the early nineties. Twenty properties were raided and over three hundred weapons and eighty bombs were discovered by counter-terrorism detectives. The hardware included rocket launchers, grenades, pipe bombs and dozens of firearms. Several people were charged, and over thirty were questioned over the incident.
• In September, Mr. Neil Lewington, a follower of Blood & Honour, was jailed indefinitely for attempting to launch a bombing campaign against non-white Britons. In his flat, police discovered a bomb-making factory and neo-Nazi literature. Court reports said that Lewington wanted to emulate his ‘heroes’ – Mr. David Copeland, the Soho bomber, and Mr. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber.
• In May, Mr. Terence Gavan, a card-carrying member of the BNP, was arrested after police raided his home. In January 2010, he was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to eleven years in prison, after a stockpile of nail and ball-bearing bombs, shotguns, improvised explosive devices and pistols was found at his house.

It is important not to over-estimate the threat of white supremacist violence from these groups. Islamist violence remains the highest threat. Police experience to date has shown that they splinter and squabble whenever any momentum develops. However, Police sources say that they are aware that circumstances could change and they invest appropriate resources in maintaining a responsible level of intelligence on these groups.