Once again, a London Bridge terror attack and once again, sadly, everything follows the same old pattern, commonly known as the 'standard establishment response'. Here is that response so you can use it in checklist format and tick off things as they happen.
1. After an attack, politicians feel obliged to condemn the incident with phrases like "There is no room in our civilised society for the evil and barbarism exhibited today and it is my duty to extinguish the terrorist threat from this land and bring together our country again."
2. Professional mourners. A shrine must appear on the spot where people died and the media must film complete strangers leaving tea lights and messages of sympathy.
3. Known to the police. Invariably it will be announced that the attacker was known to the police and under surveillance (but, as always, not being watched closely enough). In the case of the latest London Bridge attack, Usman Khan was released because in 2012 the coalition government scrapped Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) introduced by Labour's David Blunkett in 2008.
4. A quiet suburban house must be raided by the police, normally miles away from the incident, and later filmed by the media who will interview locals and be told that he, the attacker, was very quiet, didn't say much, he was very normal. 'Who would have thought it!'
5. Thumbnail images of the victims to be appear in newspapers along with condemnatory comments on the attacker revealing his strong links to terrorism and designed to make the general public wonder why he was at large.
6. The word 'community' must be used extensively, particularly by religious leaders, in relation to the attack.
7. A meeting of the COBRA committee should be convened (although it achieves absolutely nothing) and the general public are supposed to feel reassured and awestruck. "Oooh! The COBRA committee!"
8. 'In other news'. After seven days the entire incident must be relegated to 'other news' and quickly forgotten about.
1. After an attack, politicians feel obliged to condemn the incident with phrases like "There is no room in our civilised society for the evil and barbarism exhibited today and it is my duty to extinguish the terrorist threat from this land and bring together our country again."
2. Professional mourners. A shrine must appear on the spot where people died and the media must film complete strangers leaving tea lights and messages of sympathy.
3. Known to the police. Invariably it will be announced that the attacker was known to the police and under surveillance (but, as always, not being watched closely enough). In the case of the latest London Bridge attack, Usman Khan was released because in 2012 the coalition government scrapped Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) introduced by Labour's David Blunkett in 2008.
4. A quiet suburban house must be raided by the police, normally miles away from the incident, and later filmed by the media who will interview locals and be told that he, the attacker, was very quiet, didn't say much, he was very normal. 'Who would have thought it!'
5. Thumbnail images of the victims to be appear in newspapers along with condemnatory comments on the attacker revealing his strong links to terrorism and designed to make the general public wonder why he was at large.
6. The word 'community' must be used extensively, particularly by religious leaders, in relation to the attack.
7. A meeting of the COBRA committee should be convened (although it achieves absolutely nothing) and the general public are supposed to feel reassured and awestruck. "Oooh! The COBRA committee!"
8. 'In other news'. After seven days the entire incident must be relegated to 'other news' and quickly forgotten about.
