Well it must have seemed like a good idea at the time.
To emphasise the drama of today’s alleged foiled terrorist plot, the BBC news was presented from the side of a runway at Heathrow. And there was poor Huw Edwards trying to do a live link while a plane took off behind him. But still the point was made. The auto-cuties don’t leave the comfort of their studio unless it’s Big News. So the arrest of twenty men suspected of plotting to blow up aircraft this morning must be significant.
Or is it? My first impression on hearing the news this morning was not fear or apprehension, but scepticism. Perhaps all the excited chatter about liquid-based bombs and waves of attacks is accurate. But then again perhaps initial reports may prove as accurate as the claim that Jean Charles de Menezes was wearing a thick jacket when he vaulted over the ticket barrier last summer.
Given the British government and police’s record of veracity over the last few years, only a fool would take their pronouncements at face value. If John Reid told me it was August, I’d go and check the calendar. So when he speaks of a "critical" terror threat, I wonder.
Of course this is not to say that today’s arrests were not justified. There are thousands of people around the world who would gladly murder British civilians. Perhaps the gentlemen detained in southern England today are among their number. Time, and perhaps the courts, will tell. In the meantime it is irresponsible of John Reid to say he is "confident" the ringleaders of a terror plot have been arrested. In fact it is contempt of court.
There could be an atrocity here tomorrow and I would still stick to my scepticism about official pronouncements. For this is a government so drenched in the sewage of lies that anything it emits reeks of untruth.
At times like this there is much rhetoric from politicians about "not letting the terrorists win" and how we can't let these murderers change "our way of life". I whole-heartedly agree. I've always believed this British government is a shower of lying bastards. And I won't let some murdering terrorist change my attitude.