Sir Alan West tells us today that the terrorist threat will last for 15 years. This is a useful reduction on terror campaigns lasting for at least a generation which Mr Reid used to warn us about when he was Home Secretary.

??Does this mean the Home Office have scaled back their fears about the terrorist threat? Or have they discovered new ways of closing it down a bit earlier? Or is this just made up nonsense from a new Minister who wants to be on the TV?

I am glad he is not using the langauge of a "war on terror" to glorify the terrorists as warriors or freedom fighters, when they are common and violent criminals. I do think he should be more careful about predicting the length of the terror threat, when government has made different forecasts ??before.

A more honest approach would have been to say " Previous Ministers were wrong to say terrorism would last for at least a genneration.We cannot be sure how long this current terrorist threat will be around, but nor can we be happy forecasting such a long duration for something we want to stop as soon as possible." He could then go on to set out his way of bringing it under control, with his appeal to people to come forward with evidence where they have seen or heard things that indicate others are planning terrorist attacks in the future.?? He should also put this into context. It is still more likely terrorist threats will be intercepted by the Intelligence services, eavesdropping, infiltrating and watching terroist networks.?? The Minister should make sure he is doing all he can to strengthen our Intelligence response, as that is our first line of defence.

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