Investigations by local councillor and GLA member Lynne Featherstone have raised concerns that key personnel in charge of emergency planning in Haringey were not informed as quickly as they should have been about the ricin terrorist threat in Wood Green. Ms Featherstone believes that the failure was the result of intervention from Downing Street.

Ms Featherstone has uncovered the fact that there was a time-lag between the incident happening and the information of a potential terrorist threat being passed to the key people in charge of emergency planning in Haringey.

Ms Featherstone says that Richard Sumray, who is Chair of Haringey Primary Health Care trust and in charge of emergency planning for health, was not informed until over 24 hours later that there had been an ‘incident’ in Haringey. Ms Featherstone has also learned that the Chief Executive of Haringey Council – who is in charge of overall local emergency planning – was not called to a briefing on the issue until 3.00pm on Tuesday 7 January. The incident was uncovered two days earlier, on Sunday 5 January. Ms Featherstone has also raised the issue on the London Fire Authority, on which she sits. The reply from the Acting Fire Chief was that the service was not informed until the public statement.

Ms Featherstone’s understanding of the intervention by Downing Street was that information was held back on the grounds of not wanting to panic local people. Whilst Ms Featherstone understands that there is a need not to panic people, she has expressed grave concern that the key people charged with the safety of the residents of Haringey were not promptly informed.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone said:

“It is quite clear that had this been an emergency which required the evacuation of Haringey residents, which it might well have been, Downing Street’s intervention would have meant that the people in Haringey charged with our safety during a terrorist attack would not have been informed. I am now seeking assurances that never again will Haringey residents be put in danger in this way.”

Note:

The issue was raised by Ms Featherstone at the Metropolitan Police Authority meeting on 30th January and at the Fire Authority on 29th January. The Chief Executive of Haringey was asked by Ms Featherstone last Thursday as to when he received the information.

The allegation of Downing Street’s intervention was leaked to Ms Featherstone, who has raised at a full meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (30th January), where the Acting Commissioner declined the opportunity to contradict the statement.