Manchester attack: MI5 may have been able to stop arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi, inquiry finds

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. MI5 chief warns that Britain is facing an unrelenting terrorist threat “With the benefit of hindsight, the wrong conclusions were drawn,” Mr Anderson told reporters at a briefing in London. “Had people understood it in a different way, I think an investigation would have been opened into Salman Abedi, and who knows what it would have found.” MI5’s internal assessment claimed that a new investigation would not have prevented the attack, but Mr Anderson said it would have “plainly been preferable” to open a new probe into Abedi. Mr Anderson said the terror threat facing the UK “is not diminishing”, with rising numbers of suspects and shifting methods putting ever greater strain on security services. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has denied recent requests for increased police funding by forces saying they are struggling to cope with the terror threat and increased demand “At the same time, we must learn all that we can from these attacks, and make sure our overall counter-terrorism response is equal to the shift we have seen in the threat.” She has commissioned Mr Anderson to review the progress into his recommendations over the coming year and hinted at an increase in police funding to counter terrorism, which will be announced in the coming weeks.