The Government’s latest raft of anti-terror measures is primarily a response to the threat of terrorism carried out by jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq. But as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe warned yesterday, there is also a risk from radicalised “lone wolves”, as we saw with the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich last year. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, warns in a speech today that the threat from Islamists is the most serious ever. Ministers are moving to prohibit British-based insurance companies from paying ransom money for those kidnapped by Islamist groups. These and other measures on surveillance and controls over suspects will be fast tracked in a Counter-Terrorism Security Bill this week.
The dilemma for both ministers and police is to inform us about the extent of the threat without causing undue alarm. This week, police and security services are trying to raise public awareness about potential threats. Police are warning Londoners to be on the alert for suspicious individuals, for example using mobile phones to film security arrangements at key buildings. The possibility of a Mumbai-style attack on a mall cannot be dismissed entirely. The Met Commissioner says that police have already thwarted five attempted plots this year.
All of these initiatives are sensible. Yet we should also keep the threat in perspective. Our chances of being run over on the street are far greater than of falling victim to Islamist terrorists. We should not stay at home on the offchance that a suicide bomber could bring carnage to the capital. The sanest course is to carry on as usual but to be vigilant for unusual and suspicious behaviour. During the IRA bombing campaigns, shoppers were alert for unattended bags in crowded areas but Londoners did not stop shopping or going into the centre of town. Properly briefed, we can be alert for suspicious behaviour without allowing the fear of terrorism to paralyse us. It’s business as usual in London.
So many mansions
There are, it seems, more mansions in London than we thought. Or rather, more properties that could fall victim to a tax on homes worth over £2 million, as proposed by Labour. A survey conducted for this paper by the Zoopla website suggests that 86,000 London homes could be hit by it. Most are in Kensington and Chelsea, followed by Westminster. But prices are such that only Barking and Dagenham has no homes in that bracket.
The survey also demonstrates the extent to which this is a tax squarely on London: 80 per cent of the affected properties nationally are in the capital. Yet Labour’s supposed beneficiary of the tax, the NHS, is used by the entire country. Meanwhile those who are profiting from the mansion tax threat are estate agents and upper-end housebuyers, who are declining to pay more than £2 million for a property that might incur both mansion tax and seven per cent stamp duty. Labour says that asset-rich, cash-poor people may be able to defer payment. But, the more people opt out of the tax. The less it will raise for its purpose. This is a deeply flawed proposal.
Football life-changer
This paper’s London United campaign to train young people in disadvantaged communities as football coaches is now being backed by all the professional London clubs, including Chelsea and Arsenal, They will support and mentor 20 of the trainees. This is a venture that could transform the lives of vulnerable young people who could end up in gangs: this way, football really can change lives.
