It must be election season
- B*sh knew about it for "several days"
- Tony Bliar's government has been "tracking the situation for several months"
And only now, after arresting the 20 or so self-admitted muslims that are accused of being part of the plot, do they bother to bump up the Terror! Alert!™ level to red? (after which Maximum Leader Genius flew off to a fundraiser, because some things are just more important than a claim that an attack on the American Imperium is imminent.)
Call me skeptical, but I don't think these fucking Terror! Alert!™ ratings are worth shit. You'd think that it might be worthwhile bumping up the rating while the plot is brewing, just in case some wiseguy decides to hurry himself into paradise by blowing up an airplane while MI5 is still wiretapping and gathering evidence, but, no, it appears that another band of fundamentalist nutcases have been wandering around untouched while the Terror! Alert!™ stayed contentedly at yellow.
(hat tip to Pen and Sword)