We're all working to keep London secure

Since the 11 September attack on New York my prime concern has been the safety of Londoners. The Mayor shares my concern and has worked closely with me on this very important issue. All the necessary plans and procedures are in place to protect London. These are kept under constant review by the London Resilience Committee which I chair, and which includes Mayor Ken Livingstone, the police, the emergency services, transport operators, the utilities and others who keep London running. We make recommendations direct to the Home Secretary, the chairman of the national Civil Contingencies Committee.

While it is essential that we are as well-prepared as possible for any eventuality, there is no intelligence information of a specific threat to London. Londoners should go about their daily lives as normal.

We should all remain vigilant, but there is certainly no need for people to go out and buy gas masks, protective clothing and such like. The police and emergency services have responded well in dealing with a large number of incidents involving suspect packages, but none has proved to be dangerous in any way.

We are not starting from scratch with London's emergency planning. The capital has been tried and tested many times over many years. Arrangements were well-honed for the millennium and well before that. The "Trump Card" exercise in 1999 tested London's response to a major chemical attack. That involved all the agencies and government departments and was played "for real". Earlier this year, plans for handling a chemical attack on the City of London were tested again. Every exercise is designed to test the system fully.

Since 11 September all these plans have been revisited and kept under constant review by my committee. A new team dedicated to London's safety is supporting the committee by double- and triple-checking that the plans all fit together well and can stand up to every threat.

At the same time, security measures have been stepped up across the board. Steps have been taken to protect our gas, electricity and water supplies. London Underground has detailed plans to deal with any eventuality.

Londoners are well aware of the high-visibility policing that is continuing at all the vital sites across London. The Metropolitan Police has some 1,000 extra officers on duty per day. The "ring of steel" around the City of London is in operation.

The Metropolitan Police would be in charge in dealing with a major incident. They would coordinate the emergency services, based on plans drawn up by the London Emergency Services Liaison Panel (LESLP), which covers the emergency services, major utilities, transport, local authorities and the Government Office for London.

My committee is working to make sure that, if there is a terrorist attack, all the relevant agencies work well together.

We should also bear in mind that in London we have some of the very best public-health experts in the world, and in our emergency services we have people who have an impressive track record of dealing with extremely demanding situations.

I will continue to work closely with the Mayor to keep Londoners informed of developments. Our message today is that Londoners should remain vigilant but continue to go about their daily work and lives as normal.

I know that may be difficult for some people, particularly those who may feel threatened because of their racial or religious background. The Government and the overwhelming majority of British people find unprovoked attacks on Muslims here repugnant - it is important that Islamaphobia is stamped out.

Anyone who wants to see how thoroughly we do our planning can look at the information available on the website of the London Emergency Services Liaison Panel at www.leslp.gov.uk.

Central Government also runs a regularly updated website giving information and advice (www. co-ordination.gov.uk), and the Mayor will keep Londoners informed of developments with announcements via www.london.gov.uk.

For businesses in the square mile, the Corporation of London provides a number of services to assist businesses in preparing for potentially disruptive incidents. The City's website is to be found at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.