Overview
- Sir Ken McCallum set out the warning in an op‑ed published on Friday, September 11, 2026, saying the UK now confronts both resurgent state actors and continuing non‑state terrorism.
- He urged security to be treated as a shared national endeavour and said the country must ‘relentlessly adapt’ by building new defences suited to modern risks.
- McCallum said al Qaeda’s capability is now only a fraction of its 2001 strength while noting recent domestic attacks, including on synagogues, show local terrorist threats remain active.
- The director‑general highlighted that many critical assets and services are privately owned, shifting vulnerability and requiring closer work between government, MI5 and private operators.
- No new policies or operational details were announced in the piece, but McCallum’s intervention signals a strategic priority for faster coordination across state and business to harden UK resilience.