For the first time in 10 years, the Prime Minister said the terror threat had been raised to the highest possible level, from severe to critical, meaning an attack is "expected imminently".
[...] Mrs May also announced that troops would replace police officers at set-piece events including sports venues and concerts.
It will be the first time since 2003 – when the Government reacted to a plot to bring down an airliner – that troops are deployed on the streets.
[...] It is the first time Britain has been on maximum terrorist alert since 2007, when a blazing car loaded with gas canisters was driven into Glasgow Airport.
Source: The Telegraph
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday May 24 2017, @06:24PM
A clarification:
Military personnel are replacing those armed police who's duties are guarding buildings, such as Buckingham Palace for example. The armed police are then redeployed to city centre patrols or wherever. (For those in the USA: remember that a small proportion of UK police carry firearms.) Using armed military personnel directly to increase city centre patrols would be very unpopular, hence the shuffling of people around.
(BBC Radio also reported that extra armed police squads from outside Manchester had been transferred to the city.)