Shropshire Star

Westminster terror attack: Dealing with the reality of terror

The horror of yesterday's attack is typical of the terror that has inflicted several countries in recent years, Shropshire Star reporter Dominic Robertson reports.

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Armed police were foiling a terror attack on the Thames at the weekend – but it was purely an exercise.

Londoners met the sight of officers with machine guns on approaching a "hijacked" boat on Sunday with a shrug of the shoulders. It was another drill – another reminder of the risk that has become part of living and working in the capital.

Britain's official terror threat has stood as "severe" for some time. It means an attack is highly likely. Last month security forces revealed that 13 potential attacks had been foiled in Britain since June 2013.

Yesterday, their luck ran out and, a year to the day since the deadly Brussels airport attack, it was London's turn to suffer again.

The randomness of yesterday's attack is typical of the terror that has inflicted several countries in recent years. In London the number 7/7 has become etched in public conciousness, a harrowing reminder of the desperation felt by nations under attack.

For the past two years across the English Channel in France we have watched as our Gallic cousins have suffered a series of heart-breaking attacks on their liberty, forcing an almost permanent state of emergency.

Germany has also come under attack, as have Belgium and Norway as innocent civilians find themselves targeted by madmen possessed by crazed ideology.

The shocking events in our capital yesterday serve as a stark reminder that our country is not immune to devastating acts of terror.

Major attacks have happened in Germany, Brussels and France in recent times but, since July 2005, Britain has thankfully escaped large-scale incidents.

But any sense of safety was shattered as events unfolded at Westminster yesterday afternoon. The response of police and emergency services is deserving of huge praise given the horrific circumstances.

The actions of counter-terrorism police also demonstrate how much work has been done since the awful killing of Lee Rigby in 2013. Clearly, lessons were learned because the response yesterday was remarkable for its speed.

We should pause to reflect on the bravery of these officers who put their lives in peril – in one terrible case with fatal consequences – to protect others without a second thought. At a time when the term is used all-too frequently, those in our police and emergency services are truly deserving of the title 'heroes'.

This incident – which happened on the first anniversary of the attack at Zaventem Airport in Brussels that left 32 dead and 300 people injured – reminded us that we, too, are vulnerable to despicable, violent acts of terror.

While the vigilance of the police and security services have foiled numerous attempts in the past, yesterday's events demonstrated that we must not be complacent about this protection.

In many ways, it is remarkable that Britain has escaped an attack for so long.

The fact it took place in Westminster strikes at the very heart of our democracy. The perpetrator or perpetrators of this attack were no doubt hoping to cause panic, to throw our society into disarray – and to curb the liberties that are so vital to this country.

Britain has suffered such horrors before and shown defiance in the face of terror. It is certain that, following yesterday's awful events, the reaction will be the same. Our country is a democracy, a system that allows freedom of speech and the will of the people to prevail.

It is also worth adding context to the terror we all face.

It is well documented that police and security forces in this country are working around the clock to make us safe.

But we should also realise the chances of getting caught up in a terror outrage remain very small.

The answer to yesterday's events from Londoners will today be to carry on their lives as normal. It is a reaction that has been mirrored in New York, Paris, Brussels and every other town and city caught up in attacks in recent years.

It is the only answer that civilised society can give groups intent on seeing our values disintegrate.

Britain is a country built on tolerance, one where people of all faiths and beliefs live together.

Now we must stand together and ensure those behind these actions do not win. We cannot, we must not and we will not give in to terror.

The news of each new terror attack is still greeted with shock and horror but slowly but surely the national apparatus has moved to counter the threat.

People are no longer surprised to see armed police at large events, while barriers masquerading as large bollards and concrete objects are common place outside some of the country's most vulnerable targets.

As our own seat of Government came under attack the most remarkable thing is that our security services have managed to keep the threat at bay so long without a significant change to the way we live our lives.

The very aim of terror is to provoke a response, to change the way we live our lives. To stop us doing the things that make our societies the ones we celebrate.

Anyone who has visited France over the past two years can see the corrosive effect of repeated attacks and the prolonged state of emergency. People landing in airports are greeted by soldiers. Not police with guns but soldiers, wearing camouflage and carrying automatic weapons.

What were casual, carefree street parties and carnivals are now patrolled by military squads with barriers set up to prevent the kind of harrowing attack suffered by the victims in Nice.

It is the contradiction of the fight against terrorism. The natural instinct is to draw back, become more protective, change the way we live. But that after all is the aim of the attackers. To force us to shy away from what makes us free.

The difficulty is with each fresh attack it becomes more difficult to maintain that stance. As France has seen, every country has a point where it decides that it must do more to protect its citizens.

Earlier this month the British security services were unusually candid about the challenges they face. There have been 13 thwarted attacks in the past four years but also the hundreds who have been caught in far earlier stages of plotting.

The stakes are impossibly high. Terrorists only have to succeed once to achieve their aims, while our security forces have to be right every time.

Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner for London's Metropolitan Police, said security and intelligence agencies are dealing with more than 500 investigations at any one time.

We have been warned repeatedly the threat level to Britain remains severe and the security services are increasingly relying on information from the public as they seek to prevent the kind of attacks we saw at the Palace of Westminster yesterday, on 7/7, or on Lee Rigby in May 2013.

Figures have revealed that one third of counter-terrorism operations were assisted by public information given to officers.

Speaking before yesterday's attacks, Mr Rowley said: "It is my belief that without the public's help, some of the terror plots which we've foiled would have been successful."

He said the complexity of the terror threat is greater than ever before – and that the lorry attacks in Berlin and Nice last year were "game changers".

"The stretch is enormous," he said. "You have got this range from, on the one hand, the more sophisticated plots we've seen with ghastly consequences on the continent, through to individuals or pairs who are radicalised largely by propaganda on the internet and look to pick up knives and carry out fairly unsophisticated attacks.

"Covering that range is very difficult and that's why we're appealing to the public. Often we have an incomplete piece to the jigsaw that is our investigation and sometimes it is that extra piece of information from the public that makes the difference."

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