How serious is the threat of terrorism?

The BBC is asking this question:

How serious is the threat of terrorism? How real do you think the official terror warnings are?

Terrorism was the cornerstone of the Queen's Speech and the Home Secretary John Reid has said more legislation is needed to counter the threat. The head of MI5 told us last week there are 30 terror plots active in the UK.

But recent polls have shown that there is a problem of trust and many people feel that such threats maybe exaggerated.

How real is the threat of terrorism?

Now, there is no link on the site to this "recent poll" and searching google news doesn't reveal it. Has anyone heard of this "recent poll"? And besides this, why does the BBC think that any member of the public is in a position to decide how real the threat is and how much MI5 are lying? They are just asking for people to say that the government is evil, and that is precisely what they got:

The only organisation I'm scared of is the Government who feel the need to spy on their own citizens and restrict our freedoms in the name of 'counter terrorism'. We are sleepwalking into a facist nation.

Philip Chillag, Lancaster, United Kingdom

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Restricting freedoms? Yes. People can no longer drive their cars into London (because of the exorbitant C-charge). People are forced to pay for a service they do not use and abhor (the BBC). People are forced to recycle their rubbish on pain of a heavy fine (thanks to eco-activists). All these erosions of civil liberties perpetrated by the left-wingers. And who is pushing for a new law that will limit freedom of speech to ensure that the BNP leaders will be convicted next time?

And what has the right wing "fascist" government done? The only example people are actually giving is that they can no longer protest directly outside Parliament. Oh, and ID cards come up a lot, but they haven't been brought in yet and so cannot be the "erosion of civil liberties" that the government has been doing for years.

One of the problems with setting yourself up on a pedestal is that its a long way from reality. Perhaps some of these left-wing fascists need to consider just how much freedom they are prepared to offer.