We are NOT afraid

If Dame Mannigham-Buller is to believed, Britain is literally awash with Muslim terrorist cells. During a recent address, she made the claim that MI5 and the police were tackling 200 groups or networks totalling more than 1,600 identified individuals in the UK who were ‘actively engaged in plotting or facilitating terrorist acts’.

Those who are not already in a fear-induced stupor should ask themselves what the purpose of this announcement might be. What possible benefit could be derived from making this intelligence known? As a general rule, you don't go showing your cards to the opposing players, so why has Dame Manningham-Buller done so, and so readily? During her address to the Department of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary College in London, she claimed that she "was not seeking to be alarmist, and did not wish to stir up fear". However, the nature of the revelations and the follow-up from P.M. Anthony Blair suggests that they have precisely the objective of inducing fear and paving the way for yet more repressive legislation - moving Britain further towards becoming a de-facto totalitarian state.

I don't doubt that there are radicalised Muslims, both in Britain and elsewhere. I don't doubt that some of them might harbour ideas of using violence to further their aims or as a means of achieving redress for injustices, perceived or otherwise. However, the claimed scale of this so-called "terror network" simply does not add up. Those who were living in Britain during the 1980's will recall the death, destruction and havoc that was brought about by the IRA bombing campaign. I can remember reports at that time indicating that the number of active members of the IRA in Britain (as opposed to Northern Ireland) was in the tens, and most certainly not in the hundreds or thousands. So how come this "terror network" that is so taxing the resources of MI5 is so ineffective? If there are 1,600 or so identified individuals "actively engaged in plotting or facilitating terrorist acts" then why have they not been arrested, charged and tried?

Outside of the fantasy, make-belief world of Tony Blair and his sidekicks, there is far less in the way of day-to-day terrorist activity in Britain now than there was in the 1980's - yet the British public is subject to the relentless mantra that Britain is in fact a far more dangerous place now than it was then.

The as-yet unabated push to introduce ID cards to Britain is one of the objectives that will be well served by the disclosure of this "intelligence". A report by Mark Oliver in the Guardian around mid-October quotes Home Secretary John Reid as saying that...

a litmus test would be how the opposition parties decide to vote on forthcoming ID card legislation which would be crucial in fighting terrorism

Later in the same article, the reporter Mark Oliver goes on to point out that...

Critics of ID cards say they do not stop terrorism and point to attacks such as the train bombings in Madrid, where ID cards already exist

It is certainly true that there is more evidence to suggest that ID cards do nothing to prevent terrorism than there is evidence to the contrary. After all, all ID cards can be faked, given enough time - and that goes for the all-singing, all dancing, all spying wonder-ID proposed by the Blair government.

Speaking of Tony Blair, it is notable that in his response to the comments made by Dame Manningham-Buller he stated that the threat of radical islamic terrorism would "be with us for a generation", the prime minister said today Britain faced a "long and deep struggle" to combat the danger posed by terrorism. How on earth does he know that this threat will be "with us" for a generation, unless his posse have planned it that way?

This latest revelation is just another in a long line of fear-mongering brought to you by the same people who gave you the "Tanks At Heathrow" farce, the utterly absurd liquid bomb plots and a host of other fantastical stories all with the same purpose - to instill fear. Judging by the ceaseless and unrelenting nature of this campaign, it won't be long before internment without trial is extended, trial by jury is abolished and ID cards are foisted on the British public whether they like it or not. By then, of course, it will be too late, but at least the general public will know, in retrospect, who it was that posed the real threat to democracy and freedom - and I'll bet anything it won't be a handful of muslim terrorists.