Terrorism

Terrorism is a threat to us, no matter what we think.  No matter what our opinions are, we have a duty to be aware of it and to think about how it would affect us.  As a result we do need to look at how the government is doing with regards to protecting us and defending us. The biggest problem that we will have in this post is the fact that most direct questions about terrorism are going to be classified, as we will not be able to ask direct questions (It's a security matter which would affect national security). That doesn't mean that we cannot look into it.

The holy grail of terrorism (Is that appropriate term to use here?) is the definition of terrorism. So after asking the Home office what they defined as terrorism, they showed me to their website which has all the information. The really interesting thing in this document is that they outline ALL of the terrorist groups that they recognise as such.  Worth a look, boys and girls!  At least we now know what they mean by terrorism and what they are chasing.

So what about preventing terrorist material?  The government actually works with different companies to help filter terrorist material out.  Don't believe me?  Find out here and here the full details.  The fact is thought that the government does work on the principle of prevention rather than reaction.  In fact that also have another programme which helps to prevent people joining this organisations (Find out the full details here from the home office and here from the communities and local government department).

Did you know that London has a mass evacuation plan?  It’s called Operation Sasson.  In the event of a massive attack the whole of London can be evacuated (28 days later may just be another fantasy…).  So what does that mean?  When asked directly about the Operation Sasson specifics (Find out the requests here, here and here) they were simply referred to the London Prepared website.

So how much has been spent on legal aid for terrorism? Well you can see for yourself if you look here and here.  It is surprising to see how much was spent on these fees, but then everyone is entitled to a defence. It is also surprising to see that you can get this information.

This one is interesting.  The reasons is because it asks specific questions, but they the Home office do not have to say if they have the information or not (Due to national security).  By law the department you make your request to has to state if they have that information and state if they are releasing it to you (look at this one of mine to see what I am talking about). Terrorism is a thing that is not covered by the FoI and doesn't have to be disclosed.

So what have we leartn kids?  Terrorism is something that affects all of us. It is something that we are all going to have to think about in the years coming.  I think that this post has shown that it is something that we can look at, but at the same time it is something which has to be kept from us too.