LONDON - Warning of a 30-year battle against extemists, the British government Wednesday unveiled plans to beef up defences at its airports, rail stations and other public places while asking Internet providers to tighten controls on terrorist propaganda.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said airports and 250 of Britain's busiest train terminals will get new blast barriers and that strict limits on access by public vehicles will be imposed.
Brown did not elaborate on how access at airports and rail stations might be limited -- or how that might affect passengers who already put up with what many call overcrowding and poor service at Heathrow International Airport in London.
Brown said a review led by terrorism minister Alan West, former head of the navy, had found no lapses in safety, but recommended extra protection against car bombs -- a tactic once used by the Irish Republican Army and now adopted by Islamic militants.
West, also a former head of defence intelligence, warned that the current threat of terrorism is likely to last for a generation.
"It will take 30 years to excise that cancer of terrorism, I believe,'' he said.
Brown told Parliament that officials must act to isolate extremist preachers and neutralize their message, particularly amid worries that school children have access to violent propaganda.
Jonathan Evans, head of the domestic spy agency MI-5, claimed last week that young teenagers were being radicalized to carry out terrorist plots.
Brown said Internet and technology companies will be asked to help stop the online distribution of terrorist propaganda. Details of specific measures being sought were not available.
Meanwhile, public libraries and universities will be asked to check that extremist literature is not being handed out on their premises.
Brown made no announcement on contentious proposals to extend the period police can hold terrorism suspects before they are charged or released.
Civil rights campaigners and many Muslims oppose raising the maximum of 28 days. Police claim the complexity of current plots means they need more time to investigate.
In the past, Britain has erected security barriers around major buildings and taken steps such as eliminating garbage cans to prevent bombs from being hidden in them.
In the early 1990s, London erected a so-called "ring of steel'' around the financial district -- a network of barriers, closed -circuit television cameras and other restrictions to guarantee security.
West's review of nearly 900 public spaces was conducted following failed car bomb attacks in London's West End entertainment district and Glasgow airport earlier this year.
Thousands of movie theatres, shopping malls, hospitals and schools will be advised on how to protect the public from bombs.
The review came more than two years after the July 2005 suicide bombings on London's transportation system that killed 52 people along with the four bombers.
Brown said new baggage checks will be introduced at major rail terminals, but restrictions limiting air passengers to one piece of hand luggage per flight were being relaxed.
He acknowledged that changes likely will spell more disruption for passengers, who already face strict baggage checks and long lines at security gates.
Some business leaders already claim to avoid London's main Heathrow airport because of the associated hassles.
At a breakfast meeting with architects and security experts, West and Brown also discussed plans to design new public buildings, including stadiums and concert arenas, to reduce the impact of explosions and shrapnel.
