Al-Qaeda 'only One of Many' Major Security Threats to Uk

Britian's outgoing intelligence chief believes there is a danger of exaggerating the threat posed by al-Qaeda at the expense of equally significant security issues, such as global warming.

Sir Richard Mottram, who has just stood down as Permanent Secretary in charge of Intelligence Security and Resilience, the body that advises the Prime Minister on the country's response to emergencies, will use a lecture this week to call for individual citizens to play a new role in combating the risks associated with increasing globalisation.

Mottram, a career civil servant who, as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, was responsible for evaluating the security threats posed to Britain, said there needed to be a 'cultural shift' to ensure the public played a broader role in making the country safe.

There was a danger, he said, of over-emphasizing the spectre of international terrorism, which could play to al-Qaeda's advantage and divide communities.

'What we shouldn't do is play into al-Qaeda's hands by exaggerating the extent and nature of the threat they present globally. This focus is not smart when it comes to dealing with people who are trying to make us think that they are the greatest threat.'

Instead Mottram, who will deliver the annual security lecture at the think-tank Demos on Tuesday, said there was a need to understand the potential impact of a range of strategic risks, of which terrorism was just one. He identified global warming, flu pandemics, the emergence of rogue states, globalisation and its impact on power balances, global poverty and its impact on population movement, energy security, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and serious and organized crime as similarly significant problems.

Mottram's comments are likely to be seized on by critics of the government's counter-terrorism strategy, who are concerned it is using the threat to push through controversial legislation, such as an extension of the time terrorist suspects can be held without charge.

In a veiled reference to the myriad problems of securing peace in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mottram said it was vital that expectations of what was possible were carefully communicated.

'The realization that these are long-haul events suggests we need to have a better understanding of the context in which we operate and the breadth of challenges we face,' he said. His remarks will be seen as a coded rebuke for some in government who failed to plan for a post-Saddam Iraq.

But on a domestic level, he praised the government for improving the way it handled a number of recent civil emergencies. 'Over the summer, the handling of the terrorist incidents in London and Glasgow and the foot and mouth outbreak showed the arrangements for Cobra [the emergency response committee] all worked well,' he said.

'In the summer, Cobra met within 24 hours of the foot and mouth outbreak and then met constantly,' Mottram said. 'But six or seven years ago, the central machinery kicked in when it was too late. There's been a big, big change.'

Mottram's times:

· Born 23 April 1946.

· Educated at King Edward VI Camp Hill, Birmingham, and Keele University.

· In 1998, became Permanent Secretary at the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

· Most famous saying: 'We're all fucked. I'm fucked. You're fucked...The whole department is fucked. It's the biggest cock-up ever. We're all completely fucked' during the rows about 'burying bad news' after 9/11.