It is absolutely astonishing in this day and age that one of the world’s busiest airports and part of our crucial national infrastructure has been taken down by a fire at one electricity substation.
In the late 1990s the IRA planned to knock out substations around London, but the plot was foiled by MI5.
The Anti Terrorist Survey Team – consisting of senior government figures, special forces and specialists – was set up in the 1970s to conduct pinpoint security assessments regarding many elements of our crucial national infrastructure.
So what has gone wrong here? Heads must roll over this.
The biggest question for me is: who was managing and risk assessing that site where the failure has happened?
People forget that things such as substations are critical because although they may have generators, the problem is that will only keep what we call the life support elements going – air traffic control, security border.
Substations don’t just spontaneously combust. Why was it burning all through the night? We can’t discount any option.
Heathrow has been looking at expanding, and this isn’t a great advert for their ability to do so safely.
If I was a foreign hostile party and I wanted to disrupt one of the busiest airports in the world, cause international embarrassment, create many, many question marks, I would target something like a substation.
We know hostile reconnaissance is going on right now.
So for this to be taken down so easily and cause such an impact, one has got to say if I was Russia, that’s where I would focus my attentions as well.
If anybody did this deliberately it would either be down to some serious reconnaissance in advance to determine that this was a massive vulnerability.
They would have had to determine what leaning and what depth of responsibility and sort of impact would this substation have not only obviously on the local homes, but also on Heathrow itself.
Or you’ve got the easier, simpler answer that these guys have fallen asleep and they have not battle readied this substation for any type of eventuality of potential power outs, fires or anything like that.
Where is the fire suppression system, why has that not worked? Is that because it’s faulty or because it has been tampered with?
Russia and other hostile states will be glad to see the chaos it has caused.
It’s not outside the scope of a foreign hostile state to attack a substation or a power or utility supply to a key site.
