YP Comment: Defiance in the wake of terror '“ Why Britain will never be cowed

WHAT motivates Islamist extremists to murder and maim so indiscriminately has been '“ and remains '“ the world's most intractable security challenge, with the noble pursuit of peace linked inextricably to the Middle East's enduring bloodshed. Yet the most effective response is also the most simple '“ the 'millions of acts of normality' highlighted by Theresa May as Parliament, London and the rest of the country showed that Britain will never waver in the face of terrorists like Khalid Masood, the known criminal and one-time teacher responsible for Wednesday's atrocity.
MPs observe a minute's silence to pay respect to the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Westminster.MPs observe a minute's silence to pay respect to the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Westminster.
MPs observe a minute's silence to pay respect to the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Westminster.

Understandably, the attention focused on the capital – a defiant city which did not flinch during the Blitz when Parliament was among the buildings to be bombed; did not waver 
after the 2005 suicide bombings; did not falter after this week’s atrocity and which will not hesitate to defy such acts of inhumanity in the future. Most poignantly of all, one victim was a mother preparing to collect her children from school.

As Nick Baines, the Bishop of Leeds, writes on the opposite page, democracy will not be damned by such violence – a sentiment which underpinned sombre, but stoic Parliamentary proceedings in which politicians of all parties spoke with one voice in a heartfelt show of unity not witnessed since the murder of Batley & Spen MP Jo Cox last June. Indeed, the fact that Parliament was in session – and able to pay formal tribute to Pc Keith Palmer who gave his life in the protection of the Palace of Westminster – was as important as the PM’s humbling assertion that “the greatest response lies not in the words of politicians, but in the every day actions of ordinary people”.

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If MPs and peers had not gathered, it would have handed a priceless propaganda coup to the so-called Islamic State which claimed responsibility for the outrage. However this show of solidarity was important for three other reasons. First, it enabled the country to acknowledge those emergency workers, and NHS staff, who ran towards the scene of carnage as Westminster was being evacuated – their dedication, exemplified by Pc Palmer’s selflessness, should never be taken for granted.

Second, this was not just an attack on democracy – this was an assault on the free world judging by the sheer number of foreign nationals and tourists caught up in the unfolding terror. International co-operation is paramount in deterring terrorist extremists.

Finally, the unenviable role of the security services who have to analyse the intelligence and determine the appropriate response within the constraints of the law. That the aforementioned Masood was previously on their radar will, inevitably, prove troubling. Yet it was significant Mrs May did not follow the example of her predecessors and make the case for greater legislative powers. She knows the more immediate priority is to understand how an individual born in the UK came to hate his country to this extent – and the identity, and intentions, of his associates. For this, Britain is indebted to a Prime Minister whose unifying words of defiance echo the instincts of communities across the land, and people of all faiths, at this tragic time. Like her, they will not be cowed.

Values for all

LIKE the rest of the country left bewildered by this week’s terrorist outrage, the sense of revulsion that this atrocity was, in fact, committed by an Islamist extremist was shared by the wider Muslim community. They knew, with a growing sense of dread, that they would bear the brunt of the backlash from those too ignorant to understand that Muslims deplore such gratuitous violence equally vehemently and have, since the start of the so-called war on terror, seen far more followers killed than any other faith.

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As Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said: “No terrorist outrage is representative of any faiths.” Powerful words which had even more resonance on the day Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, the paramilitary-turned-peacemaker, was laid to rest in Northern Ireland in an irony of timing, they help explain why the police have pro-actively sought to reach out to Muslim faith leaders.

A measure of the increased importance now attached to community relations following the 2005 suicide bombings, Britain’s first line of defence is those values – liberty, freedom of speech and democracy – which apply to all. Unlike Irish republicanism, there is no means to negotiate with Daesh – the so-called Islamic State – and its convoluted network of violent sympathisers who have embraced its twisted ideology. As such, it puts an even greater onus on positive relations between the police, and communities of all faiths, to deter those evil terrorists intent on dividing multi-cultural Britain.