Out of 895 “terrorist” arrests under the 2000 Act, only 23 have resulted in convictions. As you read the accounts of these swoops, not just the extreme of the recent Forest Gate one, but more “ordinary arrests in which children and spouses, as well as the accused were frightened and humiliated, you have to ask if these actions might not one day be the triggering factor for a terrorist act. There must have been some truly “angry young men” created by this treatment.
You do have to feel sympathy for the security services, who fear if they don’t act they might miss stopping an attack. But this should be balanced by an equal concern for causing one.
What is needed is calm, intelligent judgement. Is that to be found in the government, or the security services?
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