By Wessie du Toit, UnHerd
Britain finds itself in a peculiar position with regard to terrorism. That word has been used for the past 25 years to justify creeping police powers, surveillance, and other measures imposed on British citizens. Yet the country is now facing a rising threat of terror attacks, and appears paralysed.
The news this past weekend illustrated Britain’s exposure to various sources of political and ideological violence. Two Iranian men who entered the country by small boat have been charged over an alleged bomb plot against the Jewish community in Manchester. Meanwhile, police are still investigating a suspected terror plot at RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire airbase from which American planes have been launching missions against Iran. The US has deemed the base vulnerable enough that it has now removed its aircraft from the location.
Yet another terrorism story concerns the young man charged with murdering Ann Widdecombe this summer, who has now also been charged with preparing an attack against Nigel Farage. Even the Omani pilot last week accused of hijacking a plane bound for Israel has a peripheral link to Britain, having completed a long-distance course at Buckinghamshire New University three years ago.
In response to this disturbing situation, the Government will continue proscribing organisations and handing more powers to the police and security services, yet its impotence is only becoming more apparent. There is a refusal to secure the country’s borders against illegal entry, or to reform an asylum system that is open to abuse, which means that potential attackers like the two men charged last week will continue to slip through the net. It was only last month that a senior Hamas operative was revealed to be living as a refugee in Britain, where he had been plotting terror attacks.