so an attack is imminent

[myoriginal3]

AIBU to be a little freaked, living in London?

And I'm sick of people trying to tell me today that I, me personally, will be responsible for letting the terrorists win

Agreed. People are looking at this as we've looked at previous terrorism in the West, i.e. the IRA and baader meinhoff days. It's not. Their aim is not to make us "scared" or to try and influence political opinion. They want us dead. That's it. They want western civilisation wiped off the planet. Ffs they tell us This! Why aren't people recognising these jihadists for who they are and what they want? It's uncomfortable yes, but we will never win unless people fucking start calling it for what it is. How many pointless vigils and iconic buildings lit up before people get their heads around This? Defiance my arse. Defiance is at the end of a hellfire missile not a fucking hashtag

You've got more chance of being hit by a car I read on here earlier.

I understand it's frightening but I want to repeat Scatterolights remark because I think it's important to realise how small the risk of being caught up in a terror attack is compared to other risks we take everyday.

According to wikipedia 1810 people died in traffic accidents in 2016, 25.160 were seriously injured. And we still drive cars and cross roads without being terrified every time.

I am actually more nervous about our summer holiday this year - because I don't like flying. I am not nervous about a terrorist issue downing the plane - just have always find it unfeasible that planes can stay airborne. I do feel quite fatalistic about our holiday and worry that we might not come back - but I would swan into London / Birmingham / Manchester tomorrow without a second thought

I think what I am trying to say is that our fears are entirely personal and my be completely disproportionate to the actual risk

'This means that their assessment is not only that an attack remains highly likely but a further attack is imminent'
Is. Not may be. That's not scaremongering , that's a Direct quote from TM.

I'm an anxious person and am on edge.

It is really frightening and these attacks are so random big armed police presence in glasgow today and at our local Train station today Dd was telling me she commutes every day and said people seemed to be walking quicker out the stations

If everyone stays home or is worried sick or freaking out, the terrorists win. I live and work in central London and it won't stop me going about my daily business.

If security is being increased and it makes it harder for these bastards to hurt people, that's good.

Given 22 people are dead, I think it justifies increasing the threat to critical. I was in Paris when the Bataclan attack happened and French security was raised as a result of the attack. It absolutely makes sense. We aren't going anywhere near as far as the French did. They had Army patrolling the streets, armed Police patrolling, even groups of ambulance staff patrolling the streets. Your bag was searched before you could enter any building, even the supermarket.

As for freaking out about London, well let's face it, London will always be a huge target so by living or working here that's an additional risk you take. But these days is anywhere really safe? Georgina the 18 year old girl that was killed came from the same village as where I grew up. The 8 year old who was killed came from a small provincial town only 3 miles away. Neither of these are places where you expect to go out for the evening and never come home because you've been killed by a suicide bomber. It is what it is. Short of locking yourself in a bomb proof bunker, life goes on and we can't give in to these monsters by stopping living our lives because we're scared.

Probably more likely to win the jackpot in the lottery this weekend than be caught up in a terrorist attack ever.

I'm too young to remember the IRA and a barely even remember 9/11. All of this talk of imminent attacks is freaking me out. It's normal to be scared. 2 of the people who they've announced have died in the attack lived within 5 miles of where I live.

All of the things being implemented could have been done so without a public declaration etc. Certainly at work (for the government) our security level moves up and down depending on various factors...

It would seem the government are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they didn't raise the threat level they would be condemned as heartless pigs who don't give a shit about ordinary citizens and kids, but when they do raise the threat level they are accused of doing it to gain political advantage.

It's a complete no-win situation no matter what decision they make.

With the best will in the world, and without meaning to belittle the atrocity that happened last night or sound callous, let's look at the numbers:

The capacity of the Manchester Arena is 21000. By all accounts, last night's show was packed out.

22 people died. About 0.1% of the people there. When you account for those in hospital then roughly 0.3% of the people in attendance were hurt or killed.

In short, had you been in that arena last night you'd have had a >99.5% chance of coming out unscathed.

And how many people are in Manchester? The population is 2.55 million according to google. The 21000 people in the arena who were caught up in the worst terror attack on British soil since 7/7 represented approximately 0.8% of the people in the city at the time.

Again, I don't mean to make this sound trivial, or to try and dismiss the heartbreak of those currently going through this horror, but the point is your odds of being caught up in something like this are tiny.

I also live in London and sometimes I wonder if it will be my train that gets targeted, or the street my office is on (I work in the City), or whether I'll be out at a restaurant with friends and some nutter decides to strafe the building.

I am sure I could live a very safe life if I stayed at home and never went anywhere. But what kind of life would that be?

I'm in my 40s, and I'm amazed by the number of people of my age who say they don't remember the IRA.

For those that are scared and worried about going to concerts or London or anywhere for that matter , things will settle down and your anxiety will (hopefully) lessen. This atrocity is very raw at the moment and feelings are running high , the fear will subside and things will get back to normal, for the majority of us anyway.

In Northern Ireland during the troubles your bag was searched before you went in to any shop. There used to be a ra g of steel round major towns - one way in and one way out.

We coped then. And we and you will cope now. Because that is what we have to do. There is no alternative but to carry on.

The lives lost as a proportion of population in Northern Ireland during the troubles were very high. The threat was very very real for us as a society on a daily basis. And we coped. We kept on keeping on. There is no other choice.

I have been talking to dh about past terror attacks IRA gave orders people did it these murderers are taking it upon themselves to murder people in the name of.. that is what is so frightening imo

Theresa May is using the situation to show how robustly she handles terror attacks - y'know, two weeks before the election. Turning child murder into political capital, lovely.

Even if there is an attack the chances of you being involved are minuscule. I think we all have a better chance of dying in a car accident every single day than being involved in a terror attack (cheeryhmm)

You also have way more chance of getting hit by a 51 bus while you're fretting about stuff and not concentrating on the road.

I understand that it's worrying for many of you but if you try and put it into perspective (if you can), you'll have a better chance of getting on with life, rather than over worrying.

S x

Aha, but what's child mirder to a bit of Tory bashing, eh tany?

I refuse to do anything different to what I already do, my DS will be going to school as normal, and I will be going to work. I refuse to be scared in to not leaving the house.

I'm sure it's just a precaution, they don't know if the attacker was working alone or not.

Friend who is very senior military says for level to be raised to critical COBRA must have received hard intel about imminent attack. TM will be acting on military advice.

Maybe because they arrested someone else in connection with the Manchester attack, so possbly more involvd
Cant even imagine what those poor parents are going through

During the troubles, over 3,747 (or thereabouts) people were killed in Northern Ireland.

The population of Northern Ireland was somewhere around 1,600,000 or slightly less at the time.

Just to put the numbers quoted by Lockhart into perspective.

The terror threat is assessed by JCAT an independent body. It was raised based on intelligence.

This is the actual wording from the MI5 website:

What the threat levels mean
Threat levels are designed to give a broad indication of the likelihood of a terrorist attack.

LOW means an attack is unlikely.
MODERATE means an attack is possible, but not likely
SUBSTANTIAL means an attack is a strong possibility
SEVERE means an attack is highly likely
CRITICAL means an attack is expected imminently