But I have faith in those who would protect me. I have faith in the police and the security services, I trust them more than I would ever trust the government. That might make me naive but they, like our armed forces, are there because of duty and obligation and I see it as my duty to assist them wherever possible to counter a threat they are clearly convinced exists on whatever level.
I wish I shared your view, but being an old b*st*rd and having seen the way that those in any form of authority behave, I have little faith
Take the situation of the army being sent into Heathrow after a security alert. The reality is there is 17 miles between Central London and the airport where someone could lauch an RPG or SAM missile and guarantee bringing it down. Yet the Army went into the centre of Heathrow where you can't see an aircraft at all.
Obviously it was
PR to show they were doing something.
They are likely to use Lord Carlile's concerns to wind up the politicos who know b*gg*r all. If you want more resources or more authority tell the idiot MPs that there is a credible threat and hope they don't ask difficult questions - they don't usually
Politicos like this sort of thing as it means they can grab more power
As I said earlier, !!!!! happens and an engine-out, like the recent Heathrow incident can happen with, or without terrorist help. Politicos need to accept this and accept that a certain number of people are likely to be killed or injured through any form of incident.
They can't know everything and one day the bad guys will get through. It is wrong for them to pretend that they can stop any and all threats. And it is more grown-up of us to accept that life itself is a risk
The problem is that we, as a people, are colluding with the rulers who want to make life more repressive on the promise that all will be well if we give up our civil liberties
If we do so, we will never get them back, and a regime, such as that in Zimbabwe, could use these laws to destroy any and all protections we enjoy.