UK News

Father activists 'plotted to kidnap Blair's youngest son'

Jan 18, 2006, 15:41 GMT

London - Leo, the five-year-old son of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was the target of a kidnap plot by a campaign group fighting for the rights of fathers, Scotland Yard said Wednesday.

But police became aware of the plan at an early stage and it was unclear whether the people involved had the capability to carry it through, sources said.

The threat was uncovered before Christmas while officers were investigating people who had been associated with the fringes of the Fathers 4 Justice (F4J) group.

The group, fighting for greater rights of access for estranged fathers to their children, has in the past been involved in several high-profile stunts.

They included an 'attack' on Prime Minister Blair in parliament, when members of F4J showered him with dyed purple flour as he was speaking in parliament.

Other group members climbed the wall of Buckingham Palace, dressed as superheroes, and climbed on top of the London Eye ferriswheel, holding the tourist attraction up for a whole day.

An official spokesman for Prime Minister Blair said Wednesday: 'We don't talk about security matters. There are real security concerns. We have to address them and the best way to address them is not by talking about them.'

F4J-founder Matt O'Connor condemned the idea of kidnapping Leo 'unreservedly' Wednesday. He said former members were involved.

'We are working to unite children with their fathers - not kidnap them. We are about direct, peaceful action with a touch of humour', he said.

O'Connor said contacts in the Met told the group that special anti-terror squads were under orders 'to shoot people if they did anything in the region of Downing Street', where Blair has his office and where the family also lives.

Apart from Leo, the prime minister and Cherie Blair have three other children - Euan, 21, Nicholas, 20, and Kathryn, 17.