26.05.2017 | Benjamin Tallis

Fortress Britain vs. Liberal Britain: Responding Effectively to Terrorism

"With troops on the streets after the Manchester attack, liberal Britain is threatened by harsh (and ineffective) responses to terror," writes Benjamin Tallis in the newest European Security Spotlight related to the possible British responses to the terrorist attack in Manchester.

The attack on concert-goers and their families in Manchester has provoked heartfelt outpourings of grief and sympathy as well as widespread and vehement condemnation. Politicians and citizens alike have pledged not to let this affect the cohesion of the diverse Mancunian community or to let it change liberal ways of British life.
Inevitably, however, the attack has also prompted demands for heightened security measures including more security checks and improved detection equipment. There has been discussion of increasing police funding and granting the police and security services extra powers as well as calls to bolster anti-radicalisation and surveillance programmes targeted at what are euphemistically referred to as ‘particular communities’ (read: Muslims). The government responded by raising the alert level to ‘critical’ (the highest) and deploying nearly 1000 troops under police command. The right-wing press hailed the coming of ‘Fortress Britain’ but this threatens the country’s security as well as its liberal society.

You can read the spotlight here.

 

(Photo by Ardfern, source: Wikimedia)

 




Nahoru