how would britain change?

London's new police commissioner Sir Ian Blair says a terror attack on Britain is inevitable after taking over the role as the nation's most senior officer.
"It is inevitable that terrorists will attempt to attack London and Britain because we know they (already) have, and they are awaiting trial as we speak," Blair told BBC radio.
Blair, who was deputy head of the capital's Metropolitan force (MPS), replaces Sir John Stevens who has repeatedly warned of the risk posed by Islamic militants.
Stevens has said that during his tenure the police had thwarted numerous attacks, including some on the scale of last year's Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people.

how different do you think britain would be if this did happen?(god forbid),do you think it would make us take a tougher stance on our border controls.

Here is the full news story.

It's interesting that the Commissioner pledges to make London the "safest city in the world" on one hand, and says that a terrorist attack is "inevitable" on the other.

Overall, he seems to have some good ideas, and has the advantage of having come up "though the ranks".

As for the original question: there's no doubt that a successful attack would change the country. One would hope that at least some lessons were learned from the American experience, and I believe they were...but there's also a natural human resitstance to really believing that it could happen here.

.but there's also a natural human resitstance to really believing that it could happen here.

i think your right.I feel reasonably safe and with that can come apathy,perhaps thats why they come out with these statements to keep us on our guard.better to say it will happen and it does"nt than to say it wont and it does.

[edit on 1-2-2005 by jack burton]

Originally posted by jack burton
Stevens has said that during his tenure the police had thwarted numerous attacks, including some on the scale of last year's Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people.

I heard from a good source that the London Underground (subway) was, and still is, one of the top terrorist targets.

A bomb going off mid-tunnel or by the platform would be result in carnage – especially at one of the ‘deep’ stations like Kings-Cross.

A bomb going off mid-tunnel or by the platform would be result in carnage – especially at one of the ‘deep’ stations like Kings-Cross.

yea not to mention the fact that afterwards no-one would use the tube again resulting in gridlock comming into london by car,the city would be in chaos(although the congestion charge would be quids in).

Originally posted by jack burton

A bomb going off mid-tunnel or by the platform would be result in carnage – especially at one of the ‘deep’ stations like Kings-Cross.

yea not to mention the fact that afterwards no-one would use the tube again resulting in gridlock comming into london by car,the city would be in chaos(although the congestion charge would be quids in).

Very doubtful. You forget that we lived under the shadow of IRA terrorist attacks for decades.
Try looking at history for how the UK would respond to a terrorist attack.

hmmm......you got me thinking about how quick that kind of thing gets pushed to the back of your mind when something else comes along although i dont remember the ira succesfully bombing the underground tunnel system(maybe baker st platform?) unless someone can correct me.also i think that terrorists are prepared to go even further,but yea people do learn to cope whatever.

Originally posted by jack burton
hmmm......you got me thinking about how quick that kind of thing gets pushed to the back of your mind when something else comes along although i dont remember the ira succesfully bombing the underground tunnel system.

Nope, nothing massive but they did try. It was seen as a target. The fact that there are no litter bins on the platforms or on the trains is as a direct result of IRA threats to the tube system. They weren't averse to actually hitting public transport systems either - remember the mortar attacks at Heathrow? Also the same guy who bombed Harrods was convicted of planting a bomb on the Victoria to Ramsgate train.

Here's an interesting link.

news.bbc.co.uk...



[edit on 1-2-2005 by Leveller]

[edit on 1-2-2005 by Leveller]