Familiar failings

THERE is something depressingly familiar about the failings of the authorities to stop a knife-wielding terrorist stabbing to death three friends in a Reading park.

After every atrocity there is a clamour for something to be done so future incidents might be prevented. The problem is, far too often the same mistakes are repeated.

Yes, sometimes extremists go on a killing rampage which was impossible to predict.

But that wasn’t the case with Khairi Saadallah. A violent Islamist from Libya, he had been on MI5’s radar after arriving here.

Despite being refused asylum, he was never deported. He was referred to the Prevent deradicalisation programme four times, had a long history of criminality and mental illness, and served time in prison. Finally, he boasted of jihad.

With appalling complacency, the police, prison and health services failed to join the dots, leaving Saadallah free to carry out his attack. In a damning verdict, a coroner said the killings were ‘avoidable’ if the authorities had done their jobs. The victims and their families were catastrophically let down.

But how many more times must the alarm be sounded? Tory MP Sir David Amess’s murderer Ali Harbi Ali, Tube bomber Ahmed Hassan, London Bridge attacker Usman Khan… all were known to the state.

No one can deny the far-Right poses a risk. But Islamism is easily the greatest threat facing Britain. Yet thousands of jihadists, foreign criminals and those hostile to our values freely walk our streets.

Ministers must close the gap between rhetoric and reality when it comes to tightening the UK’s porous borders and protecting law-abiding citizens.

The families of the Reading victims deserve nothing less.