Mick Hartley

So what manner of plot is this, that aims to kill our Prime Minister? The BBC story isn't helpful:

Detectives investigating a suspected plot to kill the prime minister have arrested a 29-year-old man in Derby under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Five people are now in police custody as part of an ongoing operation, following the arrest on Tuesday….

Three of the five people being held as part of the investigation were arrested on 14 August at Manchester Airport and in Accrington.

And a fourth was arrested on Tuesday in Blackburn.

But why would they want to kill that nice Mr Brown? His economic policies? His commitment to equality? His hairstyle? We'll have to go elsewhere to find out:

The 25-year-old man was arrested at a flat in the Whalley Range area of Blackburn, Lancs, shortly before 7am on Tuesday.

He is believed to be a friend of two other men arrested by counter-terrorism officers at Manchester Airport on August 14.

The pair, who had been about to board a flight to Finland, live less than 100 yards from the home of the suspect held on Tuesday.

A fourth suspect, also from Blackburn, was arrested in Church, near Accrington, shortly after the arrests at Manchester Airport.

All four men are being questioned about a posting on an Arabic website that often carries messages from senior members of al-Qaeda.

The message, written in English, allegedly included a threat to target "all the political leaders, especially Tony Blair and Gordan (sic) Brown".

It appeared only briefly on January 24 and purported to have been written by Shaykh Umar Rabie al-Khalaila, who described himself as "the leader of al-Qaeda in Britain".

The latest man to be arrested changed his name when he converted to Islam four years ago.

Ah…right.