Some Worrying Reports

Two stories on the BBC have me concerned about the attitude of our police force and government towards dealing with terrorism. Both are to do with money, essentially. The first is that police forces cannot afford to buy proper protective gear for dealing with WMD attacks. The second is a report that the cost of investigating the plot to blow up planes is extremely high and unsustainable.

Now, two thoughts spring to mind. The first is that the government should be giving the police as much funding as they need to do their difficult job. The second is that the police should act when they have an opportunity. They spent however much money investigating the protest at Westminster Cathedral and concluded that no "substantive" offences were committed. Yet, some way down the track some of the people at that protest will probably go further in expressing their hatred of the West. When that happens the police will have to spend much more to investigate.

If they would act now to deal with the individuals and also with the root cause, the ideology, they would save themselves a lot of money and the country would be safer.