National counter-terrorism exercise begins with attack on RBS headquarters

A three-day counter-terrorism exercise which began yesterday with a vehicle ‘attack’ at the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters at Gogarburn is now currently underway across central and eastern Scotland and the north east of England.

Police Scotland, Northumbria Police, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, North East Ambulance Service, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue services, Transport Scotland, NHS Scotland, NHS England and the Ministry of Defence are among those taking part in the exercise, as are Scottish and UK Government ministers and officials.

City of Edinburgh, Angus and Northumberland County councils are also testing their responses to a terrorist incident in their areas.

UK Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, will chair a COBR meeting as part of the exercise, involving ministers from both the UK and Scottish Governments as part of the exercise.

From this meeting, the UK Government’s support to the operation can be determined and strategic discussions about how to respond to the wider threat level can take place.

Throughout the day, the Scottish Government Resilience Room has been stood up as part of the exercise to provide Scottish ministers with updates, and offer strategic direction for the Scottish Government’s response.

The exercise will continue at smaller sites and individual properties across Scotland and the north east of England until 5 October.

No members of the general public are involved and the exercise areas will be cordoned off and tightly controlled to minimise disruption.

Home Secretary, Amber Rudd said: “The events of this year have shown why it is vital that the emergency services, Government and agencies prepare and rehearse our response to potential terrorist attacks. The professionalism with which front line services dealt with the atrocities in London and Manchester is in part due to the planning and practice that goes into exercises like this.”

Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson said: “Scotland has a key role to play in hosting this exercise, alongside the UK Government and other agencies. It provides an opportunity to test our response in Scotland and the readiness of our emergency services to deal with this kind of incident.

“The Scottish Government shares the commitment of our partners to taking all necessary steps to assess and strengthen our preparedness to deal effectively with terrorism.

“While fortunately such real life incidents are rare, the public can be assured that government, our blue-light services and other agencies are continuously testing and reviewing how we are best able to respond to an attack should it happen.”