Some thoughts on terrorism.
I worked in Westminster for 20+ years. During the IRA bombing campaign.
During the state opening of Parliament I had to vacate my office as a gentlemen dressed in black with a mask and a big gun sat on the window sill, staring outside. Quite often the tube i took to work was stopped cos of bomb scares. It was infuriating that parking in Whitehall was stopped on Saturday nights, ie night out in the West End, for security reasons. I did hear a couple of bangs!
There were lots of reasons to hate the IRA, but generally all catholics were not tarred with the same brush. Indeed during one of the periods, following a car bomb in Parliament killing an MP, i had sone Irish lads building an extension of my house. These lads were catholics and hated the IRA even more than I did, partly cos they became subjects of abuse.
Now i am back in my beloved NE, I do not have that many Muslim friends, but i bet that 99.9% of muslims hate the extremists and their evil actions.
That all sounds wishy washy liberal...
However, I reckon a decision has to be made about the law, civil liberties and funding for MI5 etc.
Many of the evil bastards who commit these act of atrocities, are all ready on the authorities radar. Now because of current civil liberty law, what surveillance, both electronic and physical (camera/video) is allowed is not imho fit for purpose. This needs to be changed so it is easier to order surveillance of individuals (plus tagging if appropriate) and more resources have to be devoted to it. Currently there any not enough bodies to cover all those people of interest.