Sunday, June 04, 2017

Suspending election campaigns may encourage future atrocities

Another terrorist atrocity and our political parties hurry to suspend campaigning in the general election.

I suppose they are afraid of what the press will say if they don't, but it does suggest that we British do not value our democracy as highly as we claim.

And such suspensions can only help the existing prime minister. Theresa May's statement this morning contained more policy proposals than any speech she has made as part of the election campaign.

I also fear that the parties are making killings more likely in future election campaigns.

And not just from Isis. However wrongly, others will imagine terrorism will make them famous too.

Every angry man with a grievance has now seen the power of taking human lives. The news swamps the media and politicians will step aside to give you more publicity.

In the words of the popular mug, we should 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

May IS playing the political gain scenario from this event.
She IS stirring up fear, resentment anger etc. for the exploits of a few murderous criminals (they should not be called terrorists).
Yes, passed events will encourage people to have their 'fifteen minutes of fame'. The previous London attacker looked straight at the camera when he was arrested. A look of 'I am famous now' on his face.

Phil Beesley said...

The Manchester bomb required a big plan. Lots of people had to work together to buy the ingredients and to assemble them. You can't go the local chemist and buy a litre of concentrated hydrogen peroxide off the shelf.

The attack in London shows that you don't need a big plan to kill people or to create fear.

One understanding of the WWII holocaust is that it is hard to kill; it would have been quicker and easier to kill Jews and Romanies by shooting them; but few people had the stomach for it. Gas chambers were built so that machines rather than humans performed the final solution.

There aren't many people who will run down the street waving a machete for a religious cause. We have to go after the bomb makers and the people who provide materials.

We don't have to destroy democracy to go after bomb makers.