Delingpole: London Bridge Terror Attack – the Good, the Bad, and the Shameful

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 30: Flowers rest against a wall at the scene of yesterday'
Peter Summers/Getty Images
James Delingpole

Terrorist attacks often reveal a country at both its worst and its best. Yesterday’s atrocity – in which a Muslim terrorist Usman Khan murdered two passers-by before being shot dead by police – was no exception. Here is the good news and the bad…

The good news:

Ordinary people have had enough

This was the clear message from social media yesterday. People were overwhelmingly jubilant that a vicious killer had been taken down quickly and ruthlessly with what sounded – from the much-shared video footage – like two head shots. My suspicion is that the general public are way, way to the right of almost all politicians on this issue. The political class – see below – is still more eager to persuade us that radical Islam isn’t a threat than it is to take serious measures to protect us from it. But the public’s evident impatience – and obvious desire for tougher measures – is a sign that this complacency will not last.

The bulldog spirit endures

How inspiring it was that so many passers-by felt compelled to have a go, without the slightest concern for their personal safety. The rugger player passing in the Mini who got out to kick the terrorist’s head in; the off duty British Transport policeman who seized one of the huge knives and retreated gingerly (as well you might when surrounded by armed police who might well be looking to shoot anyone carrying a giant bald at a terrorist incident) and, of course, the guys with the fire extinguisher and the narwhal’s tusk. We often worry – well I certainly do – that if ever another major war were to break out, the woke, emasculated and unpatriotic younger generations would be utterly incapable of rising to the challenge. But maybe there’s hope for us yet.

The fire extinguisher and the narwhal’s tusk

Because the incident broke out in Fishmongers’ Hall – one of London’s ancient Guildhalls – there happened to be a narwhal’s tusk mounted on the wall. (A narwhal is a type of whale, found in Arctic waters, with a large, distinctive tusk). One of our enterprising heroes seized it and used it to great effect against the terrorist. The other seized a fire extinguisher. This quick-thinking improvisation may well have saved several lives.

The police

Armed police were on the scene within five minutes, which is an encouraging thought if you’re worried about being attacked by terrorism in London: the rapid response teams are clearly ready and available on high alert. Also, by the looks of it, they’re not in the business of taking prisoners. At least not if you’re wearing a suicide vest – even if it’s a fake one, which the terrorist likely put on quite deliberately in order to guarantee himself a quick despatch (suicide by cop) rather than another term in prison.

The bad news:

Many more will die

There is still no appetite in the British Establishment to deal comprehensively with the home-grown Muslim terrorist threat. This is clear at almost every level – what our politicians, both Labour and Conservative, are saying; what our senior police are saying (many of them over promoted no-talents who only got the jobs because they pushed the right ‘diversity’ or ‘sexuality’ buttons; how our judicial system is handling the problem. Look at how concertedly our political class – with the collusion of the media, especially the BBC – sought to play down the Manchester Arena bombing when young girls were quite deliberately targeted, and crippled or killed by a Muslim suicide bomber. Nothing has changed since. On a tactical level, yes, of course the police and intelligence services are trying to keep tabs on terror plots; of course, they respond when things do kick off. Strategically, though, the current, unwritten policy is – ‘Let’s accept a few terrorist deaths are going to happen now and again. Better this than to take any condign measures that might be deemed Islamophobic.’ Till then, we are on our own. Sure the police administered the coup de grace yesterday. But it was the great British public – NOT the authorities – which was largely responsible for preventing yesterday’s death toll from being higher.

Our legal system is allowing dangerous terrorists to roam the streets

Brendan O’Neil puts it well:

That [Islamist killer Usman] Khan was out of jail on licence is quite disturbing. He was not just some armed robber or major drug-dealer, criminals who might expect to be released after five, six or seven years in jail. No, he was a traitor to his country, a man who was born here and yet who plotted to unleash violent jihadism on his fellow citizens, whom he referred to as ‘kuffars’ and ‘dogs’. Khan was part of a gang of men from Stoke-on-Trent, London and Cardiff who made plans to bomb the London Stock Exchange and pubs in Stoke. They also discussed killing the then mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

During the trial, the judge described Khan, who was then 19, as one of the ‘more serious jihadis’ in the gang. He genuinely believed in pursuing a holy war against disgusting, dog-like Britons. It was decided that he should never be released until it was clearly agreed that he no longer posed a threat to the public, but, following an appeal, this ‘condition was later lifted’, as the Guardian reports. He was released on licence in December last year. And yesterday he murdered two people.

So does Julia Hartley-Brewer:

The liberal left still makes our rules

To understand whence this stupidity emanates, you only have to look at how the left responded to the attack. Useless London mayor Sadiq Khan – the one who once famously said that terrorist attacks are just part and parcel of living in the big city – opportunistically seized the chance to blame it on Tory police cuts. Various Corbynista loons sought to claim that it was a false flag operation, probably staged by the Conservative party’s dark arts department to help Boris Johnson steal the general election. Some complained about the police’s alleged shoot-to-kill policy (apparently in the belief that terrorists wearing suicide vests in crowded streets should just be left to calm down a bit before the police can just move in and arrest them). Others, like Times commentator David Aaronovitch, took the opportunity to direct their ire at the real villains of yesterday’s stabbing frenzy: yup, all those right-wing types who think Britain needs its own Second Amendment.

Our politicians – including Boris Johnson’s squishy Conservatives – fear the criticism of the liberal-left minority (especially the liberal-left media) more than they do either the threat of terrorism or the wrath of the great British public. Until that changes, expect to see many, many more incidents like the one on Friday – some with much higher death tolls.

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