Police office stabbed and assailant shot outside Parliament, Parliament in lockdown

[pastafarian]

Well we all know about Trevor Brooks now. Free advertising for him.

If you didn’t know who Trevor Brooks was before his wrongful naming by the press today then you need a bit of a wake up shake. People who didnt really do need to open their eyes a bit more as to whats going on, he has been one of the more prominent idiots for years.

 

[Dave the OAP]

At the point I wrote that response, the alleged attacker was a convicted terrorist who was thought to have been just released from prison. I dont think it's unreasonable to suggest that close tabs should have been kept on him. Nowhere did I suggest locking up 1000's of peope without due process. The current laws of the land had already seen to the fact that due process was followed and he was banged up for terror offences.

In later replies, I said that if, as now seems the case, it was a lone individual who was not known to security services, then that's a different kettle of fish.

So you didn't jump to a concussion based on incorrect facts then?

 

[Withdean and I]

Bloody hell, you must be drinking strong stuff tonight. What an appalling day, hope you're ok re: the shock of it all.

Cheers Portlock. We were supposed to be staying out in London for a meal this evening but came home as soon as we found out what was happening. Seeing our kids and Sussex again was a relief.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[seagulls4ever]

BBC:

Killed police officer 'not armed'

Following his statement to media, acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley stated earlier the officer who was killed in the attack was armed.

It has now been confirmed by police that he was not armed.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

So you didn't jump to a concussion based on incorrect facts then?

I made a point based on the news being reported by both BBC and Channel 4. If you care to read back through the thread you'll see I gave a view on both possible situations. Whether the attacker was a known terrorist or someone who wasn't known to the security services. I've been quite balanced. As I say, read back through the whole thread and then we can have a chat about it.

 

[Guinness Boy]

dont know why anyone wants to make political points out of this. what could you do to prevent this type of attack and how much budget would you suggest? 3 foot bollards at meter spacing along every road? armed police on every street corner? prehaps a 50 meter cordon around Palace of Westminister, close the bridge, the square, Whitehall and Abingdon St.

I think that the attack was stopped as soon as it could be, given the circumstances. However, with less funding comes a resourcing choice. Increase the level of people protecting Westminster and reacting to terror and you lose bobbies on the beat / post incident investigation skills/ intelligence or something.

I posted earlier that you can't stop people having access to cars and kitchen knives so what can you do? You can react the way we did today to the attack.

But, in terms of prevention, you can only focus on targeting and de-radicalisation. So take your pick between deporting foreign hate preachers and interring homemade ones or providing better community relations, closing down radical websites, longer jail sentences or concentrating on travel to and from Syria. You can't have all of it unless you dilute the concentration on them or spend more.

It will be interesting to see how the government reacts now the danger is close to home and I'll leave it at that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[portlock seagull]

Cheers Portlock. We were supposed to be staying out in London for a meal this evening but came home as soon as we found out what was happening. Seeing our kids and Sussex again was a relief.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Amen to that and I don't blame you. A day of infamy and we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and start all over again. Don't really have much other choice. 'Keep buggering on' as Churchill famously said. But allow yourself a long drink tonight, think you and the Mrs have earned one!

 

[Durlston]

That is quite correct, however, when the person in question is potentially a known terror suspect who was released from prison 3 months ago, you'd hope that SOMEONE would be paying more close attention.

If you open a can of cockroaches, a few will scuttle into the dirty cracks in a house, waiting to pop out when you're eating steak or just done the hoovering.

 

[portlock seagull]

Can't help think Sturgeon is making political capital by saying 'Scotland shares solidarity with the people of London'.

F*** off Nicola, you've deliberately chosen that wording to sound like the PM of this country. And you're not. You're not even the PM of your own! Vile woman.

 

[Stoo82]

5th person now dead

 

[LlcoolJ]

If you open a can of cockroaches, a few will scuttle into the dirty cracks in a house, waiting to pop out when you're eating steak or just done the hoovering.

He's still in prison. Conjecture on this thread has been totally stupid.

 

[portlock seagull]

5th person now dead

Sounds like they'll be more. At least 2 police in critical condition plus other members of public similarly. Tragic and senseless loss of life.

 

[portlock seagull]

Police are working on the assumption it's an Islamic terrorist attack. Deputy Commissioner just said, believe that's the fist acknowledgement it's Islamic.

 

[Tubby-McFat-Fuc]

dont know why anyone wants to make political points out of this. what could you do to prevent this type of attack and how much budget would you suggest? 3 foot bollards at meter spacing along every road? armed police on every street corner? prehaps a 50 meter cordon around Palace of Westminister, close the bridge, the square, Whitehall and Abingdon St.

Nail on the head. I think people just want to use any excuse to make a political point. ****ing sad really on a day like today. But I suppose it makes them feel important, and that all that matters to them.

Bottom line is, no matter how many police you have you are never going to stop this sort of attack, whether he was known or not. Anyone can put a knife in a car, and then mount the pavement and mow people down. I think in the circumstances, and after the death toll in Belguim and France, as tragic as 5 deaths are, it could have been a whole whole lot worse. From what I have seen the policing was spot on, and stop what could have been a far far more tragic outcome.

 

[Giraffe]

Can't see how anyone can criticise the police over this.

Even if he attacker was known to them, and we don't yet know that yet, then their powers are very restricted.

The days of being able to lock people away just for saying stuff are long gone.

 

[Soulman]

Can't see how anyone can criticise the police over this.

Even if he attacker was known to them, and we don't yet know that yet, then their powers are very restricted.

The days of being able to lock people away just for saying stuff are long gone.

I agree, although some of these people that are saying stuff have contributed to the death of Lee Rigby and a fair few others. Time to harden up.

 

[portlock seagull]

Can't see how anyone can criticise the police over this.

Even if he attacker was known to them, and we don't yet know that yet, then their powers are very restricted.

The days of being able to lock people away just for saying stuff are long gone.

Let's bring 'em back then. We could start with the islamic hate preachers with those bird nest beards that live in our capital city and want us all dead or slaves to their twisted ideology.

 

[wellquickwoody]

I think BG was thinking more of things like defamation, slander and libel.

But from reading elsewhere on here, is it right that the person being named by many as the perpetrator is still in prison? That's a bit daft, isn't it, and gives some creedence to BG's "until it is confirmed".

Speculation is a natural reaction to events, as long as it is measured I see no harm in exchanging views. But it should be considered and based upon the grounds of probability. I see the ACC of the Met is now working upon the 'assumption' that it was an Islamist extremism inspired attack.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

Can't see how anyone can criticise the police over this.

Even if he attacker was known to them, and we don't yet know that yet, then their powers are very restricted.

The days of being able to lock people away just for saying stuff are long gone.

The criticisms I have seen and that includes comments from myself, were not aimed at the rank and file officers who did an outstanding job and prevented the tragedy being even worse. Sadly one of those officers paid the ultimate price. Any criticism was aimed at the counter terrorism unit of the Met because it was being reported that the attacker was a prominent and well known jihadi who has a handful of convictions for terrorist offences.

How can you say that the powers of the police are very restricted? I think it's fair to say that very few if any of us on this board, even the serving police officers, know the full extent of the powers available to the Met, MI5 or GCHQ. The crux of the matter is whether the attacker was known to the security services and what their intelligence picture was. Only then can we fully know whether any criticism can be levelled at them.

Remember 7/7?? All three bomber were known to the intelligence services and in the aftermath, questions were asked about how they managed to carry out the bombings despite being known.

 

[Tilehurst Seagull]

Unfortunately after a business meeting today I found myself attempting to cross Westminster Bridge from south of the river no more than 5 minutes after the carnage had ensued. I arrived just as the main bulk of the emergency services were beginning to attend to the injured. Needless to say it was a very unpleasant scene and one i would not want to repeat. I, along with several hundred (?) were then cleared from the bridge by the security forces as they secured the area, erecting barriers and tape to close access. There was a strangely bizarre situation where tourists still milled around the poor souls laying on the floor being attended to with some people not resisting the urge to record it all on their phones...nobody seemed fully aware of the seriousness of the situation until the armed police assertively cleared the area. One of my fellow meeting attendees left for the tube before me, but I stayed on for a few minutes. He narrowly escaped being mown down as the car came off the pavement due to a road sign, drove around him and then rejoined the pavement 20 yards ahead of him, there but for the grace of God... What I will say is that there were many, many people helping and assisting the victims and doing their best to alleviate the suffering. The goodness in people and our society does and always will outweigh the utter evil that resides in the warped and twisted minds of the very few... My thoughts are with the victims, their families and those injured whose lives have changed forever after today's acts of total cowardice. We cannot left them win.