to think the general public are living with their heads in the sand.

[violetsarentblue]

I've just read this:

Britain's threat level has not changed - it has been at "severe" since August 2014, meaning a militant attack is considered likely.

It's worrying to think there has probably been a lot of stuff going on, for a long time, that we are never ever told about.
It's very worrying.

Yes, the general public are living with their heads in the sand.

Though it is not terrorism they ignore. Terorism is actually a well-known threat.

What people should be more aware of is the fact that some parties try to use the fear of terrorism to take away our fundamental human rights.

In Germany, one political party that's getting increasingly popular is demanding to remove women's bodily autonomy - they want to force women to give birth.

That's creepy, and yet, most people seem to blissfully ignore it, or worse, even agree with it!

I'd actually rather we were on high alert and be more than aware there's stuff going on behind the scenes that be on low alert and then be suprised by an attack.

Sorry posted too soon.

Yes it's not visable always although go in to london and walk up the stairs from the underground and almost walk in to an armed police man I did in July is a sobering reality.

But when people are vigelent there's less chance procedures are tighter!

I feel scared today. I work in central London and it is terrifying to think that something similar to Paris might happen here. (I have also lived in Paris in the past and have been in touch with friends there today). It's really awful.

YABU. Whenever I hear these things I think of my own families poverty and the effects of PTSD after generations of being shoved into the military and think "They're at it again". All the problems they think they are having with western civilization is because they've killed so many of us off in the past to become so wealthy! So whilst very aware that the threat from terrorism is real, we're also very aware of how the thugs on our own side operate to bring those events about and how we come back to nothing.

The UK has been at a high threat level for years, pretty much constantly since 9/11 and the Tony Blair war days. The U.K. historically is good with terrorism and its detection. We've had it for decades. What does worry me slightly is how this is to continue when police and armed forces etc are being scaled down. (More than slightly really).

The threat level was raised to severe following Charlie Hebdo.

I live in Belfast, born here, lived here my whole life. My dad was a policeman during the height of the troubles, so I've been exposed to a lot that most normal kids never had to worry about.

Lived through IRA attacks, saw devastation several times in my city.

Life goes on, and it's not in my psyche to let the bastards grind me down...

However, in my humble opinion there are differences between IRA and what we face now: IRA were 'us' they were white Irish fighting the white British, often living right beside each other. ISIS are 'other' almost an unknown quantity of crazy. Technology has improved, I assume? Drones, cameras, hidden equipment etc.

The world is a messy place, so sometimes I don't blame people if they want to live with their heads in the sand.

I've known this for sometime and that our intelligence services allegedly foil plots regularly.

Anyone who lives in or goes to London and sees the armed police presence at train stations can't really avoid being aware.

I do feel relieved Ed Milliband & co blocked the military action on Syria last year.

I live with my head in the sand OP. Because I can do fuck all about any of it so why cause myself undue anxiety. I can't fear every time I go to London so I ignore it. I know plots are foiled regularly. I know the public are only aware of a small part of what's happening. I don't let it take headspace.

The conspiracy theorists I think have a bit to answer for on this. Because when things are quiet, I've sometimes seen views expressed that it's all about government control of the population, or scaring to distract from something else.

And of course the debate around surveillance powers brings it out too. And it can be less impotent on that one - though the underlying message is that somehow it's not real, it's not urgent, the security/intelligence services are just wanting to spy on the population and are somehow not seen as working their socks off against real plots, and that there are real dangerous people that need to be identified and stopped.

Also, this is going to reignite the debate on borders. During the peak of the migrant flow, if you pointed out that those who wish us harm will exploit the flow of people you'd be howled down. But as pointed out post-Paris attacks, even if only 0.01% of that flow were trained jihadis, that's over 1000 people who could be travelling fairly freely across much of Europe.

Neither non-membership of Schengen nor having a policy of taking refugees only from UN camps were specifically anti-terrorist policies, but both have a protective effect.

The conspiracy theorists I think have a bit to answer for on this. Because when things are quiet, I've sometimes seen views expressed that it's all about government control of the population, or scaring to distract from something else.

Not exactly a conspiracy theory when leaked memos from British politicians talk about "burying" news during crises is it?

Yes, the new Labour years were dreadful for style over substance.

But I don't think they stopped to manufacturing terrorist actions or threats in order to dupe the public. More taking advantage of everything to buttress themselves. Though I'd have to agree that they didn't seem to know the difference between 'sexing up' (what David Kelly described) and 'fabrication' which Tony Blair denied.

But misrepresentions by one party that is currently out of office, and by a cohort of people most (but not all of whom) have now left political life wasn't really what I meant.

YABU, I always feel slightly anxious whenever I'm at a high profile even like the opening ceremony of the commonwealth games, or even in a crowded station or getting on a plane that I could be caught up in the next terror attack.

I wouldn't let it stop me going though. I'm off to a high profile sporting event on mainland Europe soon and feeling a bit anxious about it already.