Terrorism will not dent London’s resilience
For a few years, Britain was spared the worst of the Isis-inspired violence that has hit many European cities. Not any more. This weekend’s attack on London Bridge, in which three men ran down pedestrians with a van and rampaged through crowded bars with knives, was the third time Islamist extremists have struck the UK in as many months. Seven people were killed, besides the attackers, and 48 are in hospital, some in a critical condition.
We will have to wait to learn more about the identity and motives of the attackers and whether they had outside support. However, there is no doubt that the UK now faces a terrorist threat as acute as that seen in Nice, Berlin or Brussels. With each sickening attack, the pressure on government to respond intensifies; even more so this time, in the final days of a general election campaign.
Theresa May rightly confirmed the election would proceed as planned after the appropriate pause in campaigning. She also signalled her intention to step up the fight against radical Islamism, saying, “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are . . . Enough is enough.”
There is no doubting the resilience of London or the courage and effectiveness of the UK police and emergency services. They halted Saturday’s attack within eight minutes. Yet the prime minister has reason to argue that the changing nature of the security threat to the UK calls for a reassessment of counter terrorism policy.
Last month’s suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena — the worst atrocity on UK soil since the 2005 tube bombings — is no longer typical of the threat the UK faces. It was relatively sophisticated, requiring a degree of technical skill, pre-planning and possibly collaboration. This is the kind of attack the UK’s intelligence services have previously focused on detecting and preventing, to considerable effect.
The tactics used at London Bridge fit the more recent trend towards opportunistic, low-tech attacks on soft targets, carried out by individuals or small groups with little history of extremist activity that would lead the police to view them as an immediate threat.
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