THE government will give an update on the hunt for escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife this morning.
Khalife, 21, broke out of HMP Wandsworth yesterday morning after clinging to the underside of a food delivery van.
A manhunt has now been launched for the former soldier, who was awaiting trial for terror offences.
Airports and ports have been placed on high alert as anti-terror police scrambled to stop the prisoner leaving UK soil.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk will deliver a statement in the House of Commons at 11.30am today.
It is not clear what he is announcing, but it is likely to be an update on the search for the missing prisoner.
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Questions have mounted over how Khalife managed to escape the prison in South London so easily.
The British citizen was working in the kitchen when he escaped in a chef's uniform of a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toecap boots.
He is thought to have used makeshift straps to attach himself to the truck as it was waved out of the notorious lock-up.
A prison source told The Times staff at the Victorian Cat-B slammer realised Khalife was missing at around 7am – almost an hour before cops were alerted.
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The hunt has sparked chaos nationwide as additional security checks at airports cause delays.
An alert was sent to all UK airports and ports after the Counter terrorism Command was told about the missing lag.
Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley has now described the audacious escape as a "catastrophic failure of prison security".
But the Prison Officer Association says Wandsworth Prison is "under resourced" and is experiencing chronic staffing shortages.
POA National Chair Mark Fairhurst said: "The chronic staffing shortages and lack of adequate training for staff highlight the need for an urgent review of how our prisons are run.
"We await the results of an internal investigation so we may ensure this is not repeated.”
Khalife, who was attached to the Royal Signal Corps before being discharged, is accused of leaving fake bombs at an RAF base in January.
He vanished for more than three weeks after the bomb hoax before being arrested on January 26.
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Another charge, under the Official Secrets Act, alleges Khalife collected personal information about soldiers from an MoD computer system that could be useful to an enemy.
He was being held on remand at Wandsworth prison and was due to stand trial on November 20.
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