MI5 Head Reports on Failed Plot to Assassinate Theresa May

According to The Independent, two suspects were detained during raids in London and Birmingham last week and were charged with terror offenses. The suspects were planning to blow up the gates of Downing Street and then attack the prime minister with knives, the media outlet said.

UK-based media reports said that the head of the United Kingdom's domestic security agency MI5, Andrew Parker, told the UK Cabinet that the country’s security services have foiled an assassination of Prime Minister Theresa May.

According to the media outlet, Parker also informed the cabinet that security services had averted in total nine terrorist attacks last year.

However, a Metropolitan Police spokesman refused to confirm to the outlet whether the arrest of two individuals, which had been reported earlier, was linked to the plot of May’s assassination.

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police reported that two men – 20-year-old Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, from north London, and 21-year-old Mohammed Aqib Imran, from south-east Birmingham – were arrested last week and charged with the intention of committing acts of terrorism.

Both men remain in custody and would appear before court on Wednesday.