Operation Sassoon

Operation Sassoon provides a basic generic framework for an emergency evacuation plan of any part of London, or Heathrow, in the case of a major terrorist attack in the British capital. It is part of an extensive anti-terror plan installed by the British Government in response to the rising threat of terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom. The plan, first drawn up in 2003, oversees the partial or complete evacuation of the inner parts of London after either a large-scale assault affecting a larger area of the city or an event having a lasting effect over a longer period of time, such as a biological, chemical or nuclear attack. Besides the actual evacuation process, Operation Sassoon covers the principles of largescale evacuation, the installation of temporary shelters for evacuees in assigned areas outside the city, activation of the plan and the roles and responsibilities of agencies under the plan, as well as the deployment of police and military forces for maintaining civil order after a major attack has occurred.

History

According to newspaper reports, the plans were drawn up upon the instructions of John Prescott MP, the Deputy Prime Minister, and senior officers at the Metropolitan Police. The draft plans were submitted to the London Resilience Forum, which at the time was chaired by Nick Raynsford MP with Ken Livingstone as his deputy.

A plan was developed by a multi agency team made up of local authority,transport and police representatives led by a senior...
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