We really don’t know how terrorists bring guns to Britain, crime boss admits

Keith Bristow, director general of the National Crime Agency, said the issue was “at the forefront of our minds” in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris.

He said: “Here’s a reality check - we don’t fully understand the trafficking, the supply chain that brings firearms into the UK.”

It came amid calls for the Government to halt cuts to policing and beef up border security amid fears deadly weapons could be brought into the country.

Mr Bristow said there was a close relationship between counter-terrorism teams and those fighting organised crime over the issue of firearms.

He told the joint National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners summit in Manchester: “There’s lots of successes you can point to.

“The position we find ourselves in the UK is significantly better than elsewhere in the world.

“But the world is different now. The reassurance I want to give people is that we recognise the challenge, we recognise how important it is in terms of terrorists and organised criminals.”

Kevin Hurley, police and crime commissioner for Surrey, called for “massive” reinvestment in Britain’s borders.

He referred to incidents of migrants stowed away on lorries in an attempt to reach the UK, adding: “Each human being takes up the body space of 10 AK-47s.

“We are in a significant crisis. This has got to be the end of Government cuts to policing while we face this current challenge.”

At the same event Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Sara Thornton defended letters sent by senior officers to Home secretary Theresa May last week.

Ms Thornton said the atrocity in the French capital has “brought the modern threat from terrorism into sharp focus”.

The allocation of money to the police service is a matter for politicians, she said, but added: “As police chiefs, I think that we do have a responsibility to point out the operational impact of fewer officers and staff.”

The country’s top counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley said he would be “concerned” if cuts of about 10% were imposed on the Metropolitan Police, and warned that slashing budgets by 20% would pass a “tipping point”.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mr Rowley admitted he wrote a letter to Ms May, which was subsequently leaked, warning about the impact of budget cuts on the ability to tackle terrorism.

Chancellor George Osborne has said counter-terrorism funding will rise by 30% in the wake of the atrocity in Paris and insisted he is “absolutely confident” security services would have sufficient resources to keep the population safe if Islamic State launched a gun and bomb attack in the UK.