British elections

National security is the issue that may decide the election – so where are the new ideas?

Terrorist attacks on the scale of the Manchester Arena suicide bomb always prompt a good deal of introspection from those in a position to make a difference. For good reason, questions are asked endlessly of the security services, politicians, and Muslim communities. The last attack of this magnitude on British soil prompted the development and publication of the CONTEST strategy – which has, for the most part, done its job.

Now MI5 has announced that it will review its reporting and triage methods to answer the questions being asked of them this week: Why was this attack not prevented, if Salman Abedi was a subject of interest? Did the security service respond effectively to the three different alerts of Abedi’s growing extremism? And if the security services know who the extremists are, where they are, and have the resources to monitor them, what more do they need to prevent attacks?