Nothing is the same; everything is the same

LESLIE RHODES from Streatham: the police have now named the latest of the victims Khalid Masood mowed down on Westminster Bridge. Thirty-one people he wounded have needed hospital treatment, two have lifethreatening injuries. For his victims’ families and friends, everything changed on Wednesday. In their bewilderment and loss they have the sympathy and support of all of us.

But miraculously, Westminster Bridge today is as busy as it ever was. Normal business in London has been resumed remarkably quickly, even more so than after the July bombings of 2005, which Tessa Jowell recalls movingly on this page. What many of the speakers said at last night’s rally in Trafalgar Square in response to the attack is true: London is not changed by this latest act of terrorism. There is a genuine feeling of stoicism, of stubborn resolve that a terrorist is not going to change life as it is lived here. This may be because of the perception that the killer acted alone rather than as part of a network —though there is a good deal we have yet to learn about him — partly because this was not an attack on public transport, but also because of a widespread feeling of cold contempt for the killer and reasonable confidence that the Government is doing all it can to keep us safe. We can never be wholly immune from terrorism in a great city —only as safe as we can be without drastic and unacceptable restrictions on our freedoms and quality of life.

Certainly there will be a rigorous official review of security around Parliament, and especially of the armed police presence there. But on the whole there seems little need for any swingeing changes in the law in response to Wednesday’s attack; the laws we have — if we include greater powers of online surveillance for the intelligence services — are good enough; they just need to be used.

But we certainly should learn everything we can from Khalid Masood. If it turns out that he was converted to Islam and radicalised in prison, as some reports suggest, we should act to prevent similar cases. There have been many accounts by penal groups and former inmates about aggressive proselytism in prison. It is unacceptable that it takes place under the noses of the authorities.

We should also bear in mind the reality that Britons who have joined Islamic State in Syria and Iraq are returning to Britain now and are very likely to engage in terrorism here. Not only must those who return be kept under scrutiny for our protection, as Baroness Anelay, a Foreign Office minister, says, those in Iraq must have “no immunity” for the atrocities they have committed with IS.

There are other, more positive steps we can take. As

Dame Tessa Jowell also says, we should not only be providing support for survivors of the attack and members of the emergency services, we should consider a memorial to PC Keith Palmer and the other victims. A service at Westminster Abbey would be an opportunity to show them our respect, express gratitude and to pray for them.

Over the days to come we shall learn more about the killer. But we should never forget that on Wednesday, human decency and bravery were more evident than inhumanity. London showed its best side in adversity.