Brown chairs further Cobra meeting

The premier chaired the meeting of Cobra at the Cabinet Office to consider the official response.

Mr Brown was also briefed by terrorism chiefs at Scotland Yard and is being kept updated with news from the incident in Glasgow.

It was the second meeting of the committee bringing together ministers - including Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - with senior police, security service agents and Whitehall officials to co-ordinate operations to catch the London bombers and maintain security.

The Glasgow attack took place just two hours after one meeting of Cobra ended and the committee is reconvening later for further talks.

Eyewitness reports suggest a Jeep Cherokee was driven into the main doors of the departure lounge before bursting into flames. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said it was too early to link the Glasgow attack to the foiled London bombs.

Two cars loaded with explosives were discovered in London yesterday. The first - a Mercedes packed with a deadly cargo of petrol, gas canisters and nails - was discovered by paramedics who were called to the Tiger Tiger nightclub , in the West End, after a person was taken ill.

Speaking after the Cobra meeting new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "We were updated on the police operation and the Prime Minister took the opportunity to thank the police and the security services for all their hard work over the last 48 hours.

"The Prime Minister stressed that all parts of Government have got to work together to combat the terror threat. I am satisfied that across Government and with the police and agencies, we are doing all we can to protect the public. The police are clear that the most important contribution that the public can make is to carry on reporting anything suspicious and to be vigilant, and I would ask them to do that.

"But I must stress that we mustn't let the threat of terror stop us from getting on with our lives."