A CRIME IS A CRIME

Let’s not waste any time trying to find anything logical in this brutal murder in Woolwich – there is nothing logical to be found. This evil act  is utterly unjustifiable and a life has been lost. As Billy Bragg said on Thursday, “The barbarous murder of an innocent man on the streets of London yesterday is shocking. What he did for a living cannot be used to justify what happened to him”. Such unjustifiable violent acts periodically emanate from the more fanatical corners of some sections of our communities. As has been said elsewhere the Woolwich murder has no more to do with British government policy than the Boston Marathon had to do with Chechnya. Terrorists and want-to-be terrorists or jihadists thrive on coverage in the media; the perpetrators of the brutal murder on the streets of Woolwich don’t deserve the oxygen of publicity. Violent people will often try to justify their actions by claiming that they are "political" we don’t need to do it for them. They will only be encouraged to do so if politicians appear to agree with them over their misguided motivations. The police and security services are best placed to prevent it, not the politicians. Extremists and fanatics may be attracted to use violence; we can and should treat the perpetrators of such crimes as criminals. Hannah Arendt’s book ’The Banality of Evil’ about the trial of holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, detailed the relationship between idiocy and evil – this same relationship can be found in the history and justifications of past jihadist attacks which have nothing to do with religion. Whatever their claimed cause there can is no justification for their actions. The life of Fusilier Drummer Lee Rigby has been lost in the most brutal of circumstances and a family left in mourning for their lost loved one. We would do well to remember that above everything else.

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11TH

We are all still far to close to the murderous events of September 11th 20001 to fully assess the long-term consequences that have flowed from the brutal attacks on America that day as a result of the terrorist attacks. Whilst my family lost no one that day, some of my family have seen active service in both Iraq and Afghanistan since, something we could never have envisaged prior to September 11th. Our thoughts today should be with those who lost family members in the attacks on New York and Washington and with the families of service personnel who have lost family members or had family members injured since 2001.

SILENCE IS GORDON

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Libya supplied guns and explosives to the IRA, and the families of their victims want the country to face up to its responsibilities. Now Relatives of IRA terrorist victims have once again renewed their calls for compensation from Libya following the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The relatives are calling on the Libyan leader to demonstrate the same compassion shown to Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi; the terminally-ill bomber was released from a Scottish prison last week. Families of victims killed by Libyan weapons believe their hand has been strengthened by Megrahi's release, which has caused a political and diplomatic row on both sides of the Atlantic.

Relatives have called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support the families in their quest. Libya was once a sponsor of worldwide terrorism, including support for the IRA, but its leaders and the country and has come in from the cold. Back in 2003, Libya took responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which claimed 270 lives, mostly American. It also abandoned efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Five years later, Col Gaddafi reached a final compensation agreement with the US over Lockerbie and other bombings.

What was that Gordon? The sound of silence perhaps…would not want to upset the lucrative trade and energy deals would we…