Former head of MI5 on Britain’s political response to the threat of terrorism
Reading Glyn Moody’s blog earlier reminded me to flag an article I saw last week. Stella Rimmington (former Director General of MI5) on the political response to the threat of terrorism:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/18/stella-rimington-9-11-mi5
“[She criticises] politicians including Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, for trying to outbid each other in their opposition to terrorism and making national security a partisan issue.
It all began, she suggests, with September 11. “National security has become much more of a political issue than it ever was in my day,” she says. “Parties are tending to use it as a way of trying to get at the other side. You know, ‘We’re more tough on terrorism than you are.’ I think that’s a bad move, quite frankly.”
Tags: authoritarianism, politics, terrorism