so an attack is imminent

[myoriginal3]

AIBU to be a little freaked, living in London?

Totally understandable that people feel anxious having so much information isn't always helpful when managing how we feel

We do have an extremely good intelligence service but dealing with such attacks is incredibly difficult for every attack we know about many are foiled tragically this one wasn't

I shall still be out and about this week in central London but it will feel tense and people will be jumpy but we do adapt and carry on because we have to

And those making comments about how convenient it is for May to ramp up the fear shame on you utterly shameful 22 people have lost their lives some are young children

She just wants soldiers on the streets so we all feel 'safe' and she gets brownie points for having 'done something'.

RTFT it isn't her decision!

I am sure the experience in Northern Ireland was far worse than on mainland Britain - but don't invalidate my experiences because they don't coincide with yours. I am sorry you had to grow up with that - I fortunately didn't have to.

Isn't that a bit like like saying someone who doesn't live in Manchester "fortunately doesn't have to live with that"? NI is part of Britain same as Manchester. Maybe you were born after the peace agreement but if you are older than that I suggest you refresh your memory on the Harrods' bombings, the Hyde Park bombings, Airey NEave's assassination etc. To say nothing of the countless bomb threats that took place all the time - truly disruptive.

is it really any surprise that we have sophisticated bomb makers in the uk when many jihad's have come back battle hardened from Syria?

Exactly. We've been playing Russian roulette.

The thing is, as much as I agree the UK has played a massive part in escalating/cultivating the situation with Isis terrorism, you can't sit down with the radicalised young man who is planning the next attack and negotiate a way out of that. He is leader of nothing, taking commands from no-one, and has no power to end anything. He is off on his own little trip usually acting alone and he is one of thousands just like him. This is very different to the IRA. These guys are walking into crowds with the absolute intention of ending their own lives as they kill their victims. There isn't a negotiation to be had. There is nothing they want from the UK/the west other than to end our existence and for their Islamic state to be the only state. We can't give them that. We can't work towards that. We can't meet half way. The ones that are killing themselves think their rewards are in an afterlife. It wouldn't matter what we offered them, they think they are serving a greater purpose.

Its just sad I can never send my dd to concerts as a teen and never think will she make it through? will she be killed in a random nail bomb?

You are absolutely right. No one should have to be worried about their DC attending a concert. That is genuinely sad and a real loss. It is what bastard, death-worshipping terrorists of all types take away from normal people. But, fuck them - we have to carry on.

It sounded like a big fat I don't care to me Pallisers I have to say. Agree with you completely.

People just need to calm down a bit. I was on the train today put a bag containing uniform in the luggage rack on the end, I as sitting at seat right next to the luggage rack and at the next stop people get on and a lady asks loudly whose bag is this after slightly ruffling through it and saw its a uniform..whats gets me is she wouldn't of even asked on any other day but because of whats happened today. The lady even said so. risk has always been there everyday so no need to be even more anxious than any other day quite frankly.

For the people that are scared shitless ( I am too by the way )

Please don't let these bastards win, by fearing to travel anywhere . That's what they want.

I threat has been likely for a while , and we can't stop living our lives out of fear.

It's horrifying thinking this is the world our children will be brought up in , but we have to try and not be afraid

I'll admit I'm scared. My DP is going to London this weekend for the rugby at Twickenham, will be using the tube etc. I'm honest, I really don't want him to go. It's selfish but I'm trying to persuade him not to.

My DH and DSS are going too.

I'm nervous about it but life has to go on.

Besides didn't Sidiq Khan say he believes that terror attacks are part and parcel of everyday life in a big city.

Am I being thick, what's the pattern?

They were all on the 22nd

Yes I realise that, but why will the next one be the 22/07/17?

I lived in London and an army town during the IRA. I also was in London on 7/7. I find this terrorism scarier than IRA terrorism because of the lack of warnings, the suicide element and the fact that it seems more targeted at the general public and in this case young people.

I understand the stats but at least in the case of traffic accidents you have some control over the situation eg you take care crossing the road, don't drink and drive etc.

Keep calm and carry on is more than just a slogan on a tea towel. I can't imagine even for a moment how it must have been for my grandparents living in a London during the Blitz, people dying night after night, building destroyed, fire, carnage, and yet they carried on and the City kept on functioning. Unimaginable, but inspiring. If my gran could carry on through all that I'm buggered if I'm going to let the odd arsehole with a misguided death wish put me off using the tube, going to shops or just generally getting on with my life.

^ well said Bluegrass.

formerlyknownasuser someone posted about the threat being critical already (and emergency services but not Joe public were in the know) ages ago. On page 8 I replied asking them to provide some clarification. They didn't.

Yes, I was just too lazy to reply the first time- it was the same poster -something to do with an Octopus

you usually have no idea when you are going to die or how. living life to the full, taking sensible precautions, (eg looking before you cross the road) being happy with your religion/atheism, your lifestyle choices etc is the most you can do.

living in fear is a miserable way to live, though it is perfectly natural to be scared right now. most people are going to be stressed around concerts for a good while. I remember actively avoiding walking past the army recruitment office in the 80s when there was a spate of those getting blown up, but it could have as easily been the nearby shopping centre. a classmate was near harrods when it blew up.

we all have to make choices based on the information we have, our own personal levels of risk, and the resources we have. The more normal things that are quite risky (cars for example) do not bother us as we are used to them . it is the more unusual things we worry about. (eg flying is safer they say than driving in a car, but more scary for some)

shinynewusername put it so much better above.

Our country has been under massive threat of terrorism for a decade now. It's ok to be scared, it's not ok to make those living and working in big cities feel more scared with all these "I'm glad I live in a village" type posts - very thoughtless and insensitive!! Perhaps I've got my head round it more as I'm cabin crew working out of Heathrow and it's been in my head since 9/11, but I'm not being made to panic over this (and I'm a mancunian). You can't predict what will happen or where, attacks may well be in places where you can't have much security and places that will cause trouble, I'd say a tube station and airport is less likely to be struck, it could be a motorway or a supermarket. Nobody knows. No point driving yourself demented worrying, it won't help you or anything else. Better to learn what to do in an attack (run, hide, report) or some first aid. Headless chickens don't help.

When it comes to fear we are our own worst enemy, in the war & during most of the IRA years there was no 24 hour news, no internet, no mobile phone footage, stuff happened & everyone got up and carried on as best they could, now we almost know & see too much

Stay safe peeps.

Maybe that's the difference for me. Maybe that's why I feel so differently. Living in Northern Ireland it was random. Anyone could be caught in a bomb at any time. Anywhere.

I ran from a bomb with my baby in a buggy. I ran from a bomb as a teen. I had run from a bomb with my mum and nanny as a younger child. I heard many bombs. Often.

I am not unique. I am not unusual.

But it really pisses me off when people post that this is different to the IRA because this new breed of terrorist doesn't give warnings and I really wish people wouldn't post that. its bollocks. Terrorists don't give warnings. None consistently give accurate warnings. The UVF didn't and the IRA didn't either.

This BBC analysis

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-40012208

called "Manchester attack: The next steps for police and MI5" sets out the sort of things that the authorities are likely to be worried about. One of the scenarios is that there is an undetected bomb maker in the country, or the possibility of more body-bourne bombs being in the country, and that the perpetrators will want to use them before the net closes around them.

The government can call in troops to assist the civil authorities regardless of the threat level. It can be done for anything where they need to throw trained resources at in short notice, usually shitty or risky jobs (anything from BSE to reinforcing security in places where they may be in harms way)

Very strange times we're living in.

The immediacy/ sheer information overload of terror reporting in the mass media feels overwhelming at times.

But I find it reassuring to try and remember that, in just 4 years, 13 potential attacks have been prevented by our UK Counter-Terrorism/ Security Services.

(Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39176110).

I just want to point out a couple of things for those people who are really panicked by this. By the time I write this others may have said so apologies if I am repeating.

-The nature of the way we run our security services means that the PM etc can't just decide to put armed forces on the streets. We are not a dictatorship.

-On a practical level if we want to tighten security we need stuff like trained people and money.

-Due to the above facts we need a plan in place for if we need to bolster security.

-Those plans are well developed and allow services to act in a way that they normally wouldn't be able to. They aren't back of an envelope things, part of these plans include the threat level.

-"Critical" is an abstract thing, whatever the official definition is it is ultimately decided by a group of people who are looking at things like resources and how they are going to be able to put extra security in places on a practical level.

-I don't know what they know (obvs) but it's worth remembering that these measures are practical.

Sorry for the bullet points but I am shit at putting a lot of information in paragraphs.

Exactly. We've been playing Russian roulette

You mean the powers that be have allowed them back in. We also allowed preachers to spill hate on our streets for years and many of their students have gone on to kill.
The bottom line is - many people who will have said exactly the same things as on this thread - which I am not saying are wrong - eg carry on - live life etc...will have been killed in terror attacks. They will not be here to talk about it.