TA 'home guard' considered

The TA could protect key UK installations

The Territorial Army could become a `homeland defence' force in the wake of the US terror attacks, said Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

He told the BBC that key UK sites had to be protected by armed personnel following 11 September.

With the kinds of threats we faced on September 11, we have to reassure people

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon

In the interview with Radio 4's Westminster Hour he did not rule out using the TA for this task.

But he said no decision had yet been made.

And he refuted any suggestion that the regular armed forces were overstretched.

In November it was reported that the Ministry of Defence was considering this option.

Additional force

"I certainly recognise that, with the kinds of threats we faced on September 11, we have to reassure people and we have to protect key installations in the UK.

Geoff Hoon: Armed forces not overstretched

"We have to develop a force that could do that over and above the people in the regular armed forces, because clearly we can't spare highly trained professional people for those kinds of tasks."

He denied claims that the armed forces were overstretched by demands, as Conservatives have claimed.

The defence secretary said he would be calling for a "realistic" military financial package in the government spending review.

But he was mindful that this would have to sit alongside demands for money to be spent on public services.

'Military strikes'

As for US President George W Bush's referring to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address, Mr Hoon said he would not necessarily have used that word personally.

Mr Hoon was sceptical about any suggestion that Mr Bush was paving the way for military strikes on these three states in future.

"[After September 11] the US consulted very carefully with her allies, and specifically with the UK, and adopted a very measured and ultimately extraordinarily successful response.

"I anticipate that the same kind of careful process would be undertaken before any military action would be launched against any of those countries."

Britain's nuclear installations, such as Sellafield in Cumbria, would be considered key targets of any potential terrorist threats.