Police chiefs were last night under intense pressure to use racial profiling in the battle to prevent further terror strikes.
All the suspects in the latest failed attacks are young adults of Asian or Middle Eastern descent. But officers carrying out spot checks at key sites have been told not to target people based on their ethnicity or age.
The policy has led to accusations that police bosses are more worried about upsetting minority groups than protecting the country. One frustrated officer last night said: “In these extreme circumstances the rules need to be changed because otherwise we are wasting our resources.”
Tory MP Philip Davies said: “I agree with him completely. It makes my blood boil. In a nutshell, what police officers are being told is put political correctness above the security of people in this country.”