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Student Zone - Update Materials

Update 4: September 2005 - Terrorism And British Politics 

The suicide bombings on the tube and a bus in London on 7 July 2005 are both a turning point in British politics - and a reassertion of entirely traditional patterns. The magnitude of the tragedy - in which 52 people were killed - was widened still further by a failed attempt to replicate the attacks a fortnight later on 21 July, and by the dramatic pursuit of the bombers. 

They are a reassertion of traditional patterns because - as we emphasised in chapter 13 - violent political protest is engrained in the British political tradition. And while the death and injury inflicted by the bombers on 7 July was the greatest single terrorist outrage on the British mainland, the scale and intensity of suicide attacks still do not match that of the IRA in London and other British cities in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. But the London bombings plainly are novel because they reflect the 'globalization' of political violence as exemplified by the influence of Al Qaeda, the global network originating in Saudi Arabia which has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks, notably the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in September 2001.

The impact of the attacks also marks an important turning point in domestic politics. A major theme of British Politics and Governance was the growth of a 'rights' culture: the creation and extension of legal protections for individuals against state action. Even before the events of July 2005 that culture was under pressure because of the threat of international terrorism: the balance is discussed, for example, in chapters 1, 5 and 24. The response to the attacks has strengthened the hands of those who wish to roll back some of the rights extensions of recent years. The response was vividly summarised by the Prime Minister in his Press Conference of 5 August 2005 announcing a new raft of measures: 'Let no-one be in any doubt, the rules of the game are changing.' A wide range of measures include:

• Deportation and exclusion of foreign nationals on grounds such as fostering hatred and advocating violence. Hitherto this has been limited by the belief that deportation to jurisdictions where torture was practised would be successfully challenged in court on the grounds that it contravened the European Convention on Human Rights as incorporated into the Human Rights Act 1998. The Government has now negotiated memoranda of understanding with a number of states conveying assurances that torture would not be practised on deportees. If the new measures are still successfully challenged in the courts - and they certainly will be challenged - the Government promises to amend the Human Rights Act to remove the obstacle.
• A new anti-terrorism Act is promised in the autumn to create an offence of condoning or glorifying terrorism.

The police and other anti-terrorist agencies are promised extended powers - for instance, new pre-trial procedures, possible extensions in the length of time suspects can be held without trial, powers to close places of worship that are used a centre for 'fomenting extremism' - the Prime Minister's phrase.

These new policy measures have also been accompanied by a wider shift in the terms of debate. The most important shift is the growing expression of scepticism from virtually all parts of the political spectrum about the robustness of the existing model of multiculturalism in Britain, and calls for much more emphasis on the importance of attachment to a single model of 'British' citizenship. Symbolically, the government has responded to this by imposing stiffer 'citizenship tests' than hitherto on those wishing to acquire British citizenship.

The transcript of the Prime Minister's press conference announcing that the rules of the game had changed - one of the most important events in his Premiership - can be accessed at http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page8041.asp 

Procedurally, the event also marked something of significance: the use of the regular Press Conference to make an important set of policy announcements. Although the Commons was in recess at the time, the use of the Press Conference highlights how far this government - and indeed all modern British governments - now use direct contacts with the media to make important policy announcements. The questioning of the Prime Minister by reporters after he had made his statement also illustrates how far this sort of questioning has developed as a method of offering public accountability, partly supplanting the traditional methods of inquisition and debate on the floor of the House of Commons.

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