Peter Hill

THE terrorist who shot dead a policeman in Paris last week was on the security service radar. The Westminster Bridge killer was known to the police. In fact most such attackers are already known to the authorities.

But nothing can be done until they attempt or commit an atrocity or it can be proved they are planning one, almost impossible in the case of those acting alone which is now the favoured method of extremists.

Should Western legal systems allow suspects to be detained without clear evidence? The public would support such measures, which would save many innocent bystanders. But it would be a step much too far for the liberal consensus that has been in charge in modern times.

Yet the British and American authorities did not flinch in wartime from interning German and Japanese citizens. It was justified under international law. To all intents and purposes we are at war with Islamic State, in which case isn’t there a sound case for detaining suspects, subject to review by the courts? q I DON’T share the universal confidence that the election will be a Tory landslide. What about all those constituencies in the South of England that voted Remain? This is their last chance to say it again. The Tories must hope that the fear of Corbyn in Downing Street will overcome their hatred of Brexit. Hmmm.

Supposing Theresa May does win a huge majority will that be good for Brexiteers who want a clean break with the EU? I think not. I don’t believe the Prime Minister and her closest colleagues – Boris isn’t one of them – want a hard Brexit. They would be happy to let everything stay largely unchanged. A big majority would allow her to ignore the hardliners.

A soft Brexit would be safe but it would leave Britain tied to the stagnating EU with all the handicaps and none of the benefits, if there are any. We would not be free to pursue deals with all the other countries we need to do business with and which are keen to trade with us. q CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond could sabotage Tory hopes single-handed. His strong hint that he plans to increase taxes has to be a big worry for all but the very low paid. Senior Tories are trying hard to insist this isn’t party policy but it’s Hammond who runs the Treasury.

Tory claims to be the party of low taxation are not true, taxation is the highest it has been for decades. Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green has given an “absolute guarantee” that “taxes will always be lower under a Conservative government than they would under a Jeremy Corbyn government”.

Since Corbyn and chums would grab everything down to the knives and forks that’s not saying a hell of a lot. q THE number of patients having to be treated in mixed sex hospital wards has trebled to nearly 8,000 in two years according to the latest figures despite NHS rules and numerous promises that they should be separated.

I’ve spent time in a mixed ward. It’s not intolerable but it’s far from ideal especially during the night when people are shuffling around to the lavatories in various states of undress. It’s bad enough when there are just grunting, wind-expelling blokes but in a mixed ward there are also shrieks and other weird noises.

I’d be willing to pay more tax if I thought it would dramatically improve the NHS but I know they would just squander it. q LEN McCLUSKEY has been re-elected as leader of Britain’s biggest trade union Unite but it’s hardly a victory. Only 12 per cent of the members voted and that’s not acceptable. The unions make their own rules but there should be a law insisting that at least half the membership must vote for elections to be valid.

The unions are dominated by Left-wingers because only they can be bothered to attend meetings or even manage a postal vote. To paraphrase a famous quote: the only thing necessary for the triumph of extremism is for good people to do nothing. q WORLD Bank president Jim Yong Kim claims that aid for poor countries is the first line of defence against mass immigration. Our Prime Minister agrees with him and others, such as Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, and has given an assurance that Britain’s commitment to spend at least 0.7 per cent of GDP will continue.

But there is no evidence that aid is deterring a single one of the 60 million souls seeking better lives in countries other than their own. In one recent weekend another 5,000 people were rescued from boats crossing the Mediterranean to Italy from North Africa. Many thousands more will head our way this summer from east and south.

The efficacy of aid is a lie. q THE British stiff upper lip is dying out according to a survey. It sure is among our young royals who are vying to relate their mental health experiences. Soul bearing, going for takeaways and claiming to be “ordinary” is the wrong image for the Royal Family. Royal implies a certain distance. q I ENJOYED a brilliant performance of Twelfth Night on Friday except it was sometimes hard to tell what the actors were saying. It’s because Shakespeare is delivered in normal speech. When it was declaimed by Olivier and Gielgud you could hear every syllable but that would be too grand for today’s audiences. Surely there is a happy medium.