Tony Blair today gave his "one-hundred-and-one per cent" backing to police who ordered the terrorist raid in east London last Friday in which a man was shot in the shoulder.

The Prime Minister refused to be drawn on claims that police had "drawn a blank" since their raid on the address in Lansdown Road, Forest Gate, in which one man was shot.

And he dismissed suggestions of a "Muslim backlash" in the wake of the raid, saying that the community fully understood the need to combat the terrorist threat.

The apparent lack of concrete evidence of terrorist activity uncovered by the raid has raised tensions in Forest Gate.

The mainly Bangladeshi local Muslim community, although at pains to point out that they abhor terrorism, say that they cannot trust the police as much as they used to after an estimated 250 officers stormed into two adjoining homes in the early hours of the morning, many wearing protective chemical suits.

In a webcast interview posted on the No 10 website, Mr Blair said it was essential that the police took action if they received "reasonable" intelligence pointing to a terror attack.

"I support the police 101 per cent - and the security services. I think if they have a reasonable piece of intelligence and they believe they have got to investigate - take action on - they should," he said.

"You can only imagine if they fail to take action and something terrible happened what outcry would be then, so they are in an impossible situation."

Mr Blair praised Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, who is in charge of counter-terror operations, and MI5 Director General Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller "as absolutely top rate professionals".

During the raid Abdul Kahar, 23, was accidentally shot and injured. Police sources suggest that the gloves an armed officer was wearing, part of a bulky chemical suit, meant that he may not have known he had pulled the trigger.

The officer, who was carrying an Heckler and Koch MP-5 carbine, said he could not remember firing the weapon. Mr Kahar, who was taken to hospital to receive treatment, and his brother, Abdul Koyair, 20, who works for Tesco, were held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

Since the raid the police have been under mounting criticism for their apparent catalogue of errors, and the leader of Britain’s Muslims has warned that there could be a breakdown in trust between the community and police.

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