David Blunkett: Why it wasn't just one man who brought terror to Manchester

Let us be absolutely clear, the attack on innocent people at the Manchester Arena on Monday night was not perpetrated by just one killer. All those who suspected what he was prepared to do, all those who encouraged or advised him, all those who had just the slightest of worries, all are culpable.
David Blunkett, the former Home Secretar and MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.David Blunkett, the former Home Secretar and MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.
David Blunkett, the former Home Secretar and MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.

Because it is isn’t just those who commit such horrendous crimes who are guilty. No, it is everyone who in any way connives in their journey to terror. That is why the calls once again for people to pull together are entirely correct. However, it needs more than just goodwill or cooperation to ensure community cohesion.

What is needed is a fundamental drive to root out of the warped beliefs which distort Islam and which result in the will to destroy the loved ones of others. For this is a distortion and one we have seen so many times before. During The Troubles of Northern Ireland there were those who over decades misrepresented the cause that they espoused of a united Ireland and besmirched so often the good name of Catholicism.

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After all, until the Good Friday Agreement and the continuing peace process, the loss of innocent lives were regrettably a monthly occurrence. We fought that terrorism, and we will fight this continuing terrorism.

Communities of all faiths must join together to fight terrorism says David Blunkett.  Here the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephriam Mirvis, Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were pictured taking part in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, for the victims of the Westminster terror attack. Picture by Victoria Jones/PA WireCommunities of all faiths must join together to fight terrorism says David Blunkett.  Here the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephriam Mirvis, Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were pictured taking part in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, for the victims of the Westminster terror attack. Picture by Victoria Jones/PA Wire
Communities of all faiths must join together to fight terrorism says David Blunkett. Here the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephriam Mirvis, Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were pictured taking part in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, for the victims of the Westminster terror attack. Picture by Victoria Jones/PA Wire

All those who are involved in counterterrorism have stressed so often, it is not possible to protect us 100 per cent of the time. Back in September 2001 when the World Trade Center was attacked, I had just become Home Secretary. I was advised then that we would, because of the Good Friday Agreement, be in a position to switch the counterterrorism capacity to deal with what was not a new threat but one which had emerged in an entirely new guise.

We were able to backfill quickly but it did take time to develop the ability to be able to infiltrate and assess the full threat that faced not just the United Kingdom but the world as a whole.

Four years later in July 2005 an attack took place on the London Underground and Tavistock Square. This was an assault on those of all faiths, all backgrounds and from all parts of the country and beyond. Similarly, there was no one group who attended that concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday night.

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Inevitably we will have to learn the lessons. It may well be that the way we control entry to the external parts of our major venues will have to be reassessed. It may well be that we will have to have those with some counterterrorism knowledge at such major events, but the reality is they can’t be everywhere. We will have to be robust in avoiding accusations of political correctness, but we will also need great sensitivity.

Communities of all faiths must join together to fight terrorism says David Blunkett.  Here the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephriam Mirvis, Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were pictured taking part in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, for the victims of the Westminster terror attack. Picture by Victoria Jones/PA WireCommunities of all faiths must join together to fight terrorism says David Blunkett.  Here the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephriam Mirvis, Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were pictured taking part in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, for the victims of the Westminster terror attack. Picture by Victoria Jones/PA Wire
Communities of all faiths must join together to fight terrorism says David Blunkett. Here the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephriam Mirvis, Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were pictured taking part in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, for the victims of the Westminster terror attack. Picture by Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Nevertheless, it will be important to recognise that what happened in France, in Westminster on March 22 and in Manchester this week are not isolated incidents. They are part of what has become an ongoing war of attrition by those who hate everything we stand for.

As a consequence, we will need to ensure that we take measures that are sensible, proportionate and sustainable over a period of time. One off measures are just that. Flooding the streets with the police may or may not be reassuring. I think, not but even if it were, it is not something that can be countenanced in the long-term.

Last week I wrote in The Times newspaper about the importance of ensuring that the police have the resources that they need on a daily basis. From 2015, the Government had agreed to maintain funding for counterterrorism. These two areas need to go hand-in-hand. It is only through intelligence on the ground, achieved through good and sustained neighbourhood and community policing that we will gain the support and trust of those from all faiths and ensure that intelligence can be applied quickly and decisively.

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MI5 our internal security service been excellent at monitoring and therefore being able to assess threats of a more sophisticated nature than we saw in July 2005 or last Monday. That, described sometimes as “low-level” attack which requires fewer resources and less sophisticated build-up, poses a particular ongoing challenge. Together, however, I think we can meet it.

Above all, it will be important that we do not as so often said, allow these people to disrupt our daily lives. We must not create an atmosphere of fear which prevents people going about their business and enjoying themselves in the way that so many young people and their families were endeavouring to do on Monday evening.

To do otherwise would be to hand victory to those who seek to destroy our way of life and to undermine our confidence in democracy.

That is why in the next two weeks, our democratic process must continue. Sensible rational debate must demonstrate that we the British people can take on the terrorists and through our democratic processes can deliver a better Britain and a future for all our people.