Police have resources to curtail terror – we just need the strength to act
SIR – I’m sick of seeing people blame cuts to the police for the recent terror attacks (report, June 6).
The present police force possessed enough information on the perpetrators of these attacks to have implemented preventative measures, but they were too weak to act on it.
We don’t necessarily need a larger police force – just a strong one. Elvina Parker
Overton, Hampshire
SIR – When I moved to Australia in 1998, I was initially shocked to see that all police officers were armed.
However, as time went on it became clear to me that when any officer used their firearm, unless it was a witnessed, clear-cut case of reasonable force, a full inquiry would occur. Such an inquiry would be, and is, reported by the fourth estate.
Surely it is time to increase the number of armed officers on the streets of Britain. Of course careful training needs to be provided – but unfortunately I feel that we have passed the point where a hard hat and a baton alone can enable police to defend the public and themselves. Gerard Biglin
Shanghai, China
SIR – Since 2001 Britain’s Muslim population has virtually doubled, from 1.6 million to more than three million, and the number of Islamists within its ranks – as measured by those on MI5 watch lists – is currently estimated to be 23,000.
The consequent rising workload of MI5 has not been accompanied by corresponding increases in MI5 capacity.
Theresa May has presided over this rise of hostile Islamist extremism, coupled with a failure to increase the capacity of our intelligence services to deal with it. Alan Stedall
Sutton Coldfield
SIR – If the police have valid proof that people are planning terrorist attacks, they and their accomplices should immediately be arrested.
Any foreign nationals should be deported, and any British nationals tagged and placed under house arrest. Patricia Bateson
Diss, Norfolk
SIR – I recently conducted a search for “hunting knives” on Amazon’s UK website.
This immediately produced a wide range of barbarous weapons which would be ideal for use in a terror attack. Surely any government must have the power to monitor or prevent the sale of such items. Chris Rome
Thruxton, Hampshire
SIR – Tooba Khokhar (Letters, June 5) quotes the Koran – “Whoever takes a life, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind” – as proof that it enshrines the sanctity of human life.
If you read that verse in full, it is actually a warning to the Jews: “We decreed upon the children of Israel that whoever...”. It also permits the killing of those who “cause mischief ” (interpreted by many to mean “unbelievers”).
The next verse (5:33) goes on to declare the penalty for causing corruption on Earth: “[to be] killed or crucified or their hands and feet be cut off on opposite sides...”
Religion is about interpretation. We know that the vast majority of British Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens. They will have been as sickened by the recent terrorist attacks as we all were. I in no way wish to offend them, but we cannot defeat the Islamists without starting to understand the world as they see it. Rowland Aarons
London N3
SIR – In Tuesday’s front-page headline – “Brazen jihadist who was free to parade his extremism on TV” – the word “jihadist” should, I believe, have read “terrorist”.
Jihad, the war against evil, is a concept to be found in all the great religions in the world. We are enjoined to fight against evil wherever we find it, particularly within ourselves.
However, those who set out to undertake premeditated, cold-blooded murder should never be thought of as jihadists. They are terrorists.
Mixing the two concepts can bring the peace-loving interpretation of Islam, as preached by the majority of its imams, into unwarranted disrepute. As a practising Christian, I regret this misunderstanding.
David R A Friend
Wembley, Middlesex
SIR – What an excellent article by William Hague (Comment, June 6), setting out how best to contain and fight Islamic terrorism.
However, unlike the war against the IRA’S “armed struggle”, where at least the Republicans had a clear set of aims which could eventually be politicised and made part of negotiations, these Islamic terrorists have no clear goals other than terror for its own sake.
Also, unlike the IRA, the Islamic terrorists do not seem to have any defined organisation or command structure with which to deal and talk, meaning that Jeremy Corbyn’s preferred tactic is a non-starter.
What brought the IRA’S terror campaign to an end was the realisation that society would continue to endure for as long as it took. The same will be true with this terror campaign, but it will take a very long time. Alan Law
Streatley, Berkshire