Reaction Not fear, but anger Threat level The questions about security that demand answers,
In a week when the British vote in a general election, spotlight falls on leader whose watch has suffered three terrorist attacks
LONDON // Why did British security authorities choose to lower the terrorism threat level from critical five days after the Manchester bombing on May 27?
It is one question that will be uppermost in the minds of many after the latest attack. The decision, taken as members of the cell believed to have supported bomber Salman Abedi were still being identified and detained, appeared premature at the time.
Arrests were still being made as recently as Saturday.
But after the rampage in the London Bridge area of the capital on Saturday, the decision to lower the alert level so soon appeared irresponsible.
Days after Manchester, reports were circulating in western media that ISIL was using its social media channels to call for more attacks on the West throughout Ramadan. “Muslim brothers in Europe who can’t reach the Islamic State lands, attack them in their homes, their markets, their roads and their forums,” read one message posted on YouTube. That appeared to be the motive that led to Saturday night’s attack. One of the attackers screamed “This is for Allah” as he set about his business. British voters will be going to the polls in a general election on Thursday, an election for which campaigning has again been suspended, for the second time in two weeks.
Mrs May called the snap vote in the hope that she would be returned to power with a commanding majority in order to lay claim to a popular mandate for her imminent Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
But after a series of political gaffes, her Conservative party is losing ground in the polls to Labour and some analysts are suggesting that Mrs May’s majority could be reduced.
The suspicion will be that, with Mrs May’s “strong and stable” government appearing increasingly weak and unstable, the decision to dial down the threat level as soon as possible may have been influenced by cynical political calculation.
The concern is that fear will keep some voters away. As random violence threatens to become the norm, the British are learning on their feet.
The newly issued advice from police for those who find themselves caught up in such events is “Run, Hide, Tell”, an exhortation to “Run to a place of safety … a better option than to surrender or to negotiate” or, “if there’s nowhere to go … Hide – turn your phone to silent, turn off vibrate”, and when it is safe to do so, call the police.
All three of last night’s attackers were shot dead within eight minutes of police receiving the first 999 call about the incident. But no matter how swift, no matter how many armed police officers are standing by ready to react to such incidents, no re- sponse is going to be enough. Traditionally, London welcomes many visitors from the Gulf during the summer.
Will the fear of further attacks – and perhaps of growing suspicion of and animosity towards foreigners – dissuade them from visiting this year?
The secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Harun Khan, said he was “appalled and angered by the terrorist attacks … in my home city”.
Those last four words were the key phrase of the message, as mosques and Muslims across the country find themselves once again anxiously striving to distance themselves and their faith from the latest murders, and to remind other Britons that they too are “us” and not “them”.