John Prescott writes:
As I observed the minute’s silence for the Britons who died in Tunisia, I thought back to July 7, 2005.
We’d just won the Olympics, Tony Blair was having a successful G8 conference in Gleneagles and we were even gearing up to win the Ashes. The country was on a roll.
I was chairing the Cabinet when we were told there had been an explosion on the Tube. We were told it was caused by a power surge.
With Tony in Scotland, I was in charge of the initial response and convened the first emergency COBRA meeting (innocently named after the room, Committee Briefing Room A).
But then we heard a bus had been blown up. Just like 9/11, a perceived accident turned into a terrorist atrocity.
Fifty-two people died at the hands of home-grown suicide bombers, the worst loss of British lives since the 9/11 attacks.
It became clear their grievance was with our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But it was crucial our response didn’t inflame the Muslim community.
We set up seven community-led working groups under the banner of Preventing Extremism Together (PET) to develop practical recommendations for tackling violent extremism. Community involvement was vital.
Ten years on, al-Qaeda has been replaced by Islamic State. But this government has failed to learn the lessons.
The Tunisia gunman crafted his deadly skills at an IS training camp in an “ungoverned part of Libya”.
We faced the same situation after removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.
When will we realise that our military involvement in the Middle East only make matters worse?
Cameron even wanted to take us into Syria, which would have led to us fighting on the same side as IS.
Thankfully Labour, the Lib Dems and rebel Tory MPs stopped Cameron and US President Obama from turning a desperate regional dispute into a major international war.
But now the PM’s planned “Full Spectrum Response” could put UK and US airstrikes in Syria back on the table.
And what are we doing to prevent another 2,000 British Muslim men and women going to Syria to help IS?
The Government has passed a law to compel teachers and lecturers to report students they suspect might have “extremist views”.
Surely engagement with the Muslim community is far more important than encouraging teachers to become an army of spies.
This government wants to impose Western values and democracy abroad but seeks to abolish human rights and snoop on our emails, social media and phone calls at home.
It also wants to strengthen links with undemocratic Saudi Arabia and the military government of Egypt, which deposed the last elected Prime Minister.
It’s no wonder British Muslims who fled to Syria felt more allegiance to IS than the UK. It’s not their parents’ fault, it’s the Government’s policies that help to radicalise them.
Airstrikes and sending in the SAS cannot guarantee Brits will be safe from IS attacks on every beach and in every city.
Our continued intervention in the Middle East means this Arab Spring has turned into a long and bloody winter.
This is a regional dispute that requires a regional solution.
We should put more pressure on Israel to commit to recognising Palestine, ending an injustice which still fans the flames in the Middle East.
From the Crusades [well, that is another story] to Iraq and Syria, Western intervention never works. It didn’t a thousand years ago and it doesn’t now.
Until we recognise that, Britons will never be truly safe in Arab countries – or even on the streets of the UK.
As I observed the minute’s silence for the Britons who died in Tunisia, I thought back to July 7, 2005.
We’d just won the Olympics, Tony Blair was having a successful G8 conference in Gleneagles and we were even gearing up to win the Ashes. The country was on a roll.
I was chairing the Cabinet when we were told there had been an explosion on the Tube. We were told it was caused by a power surge.
With Tony in Scotland, I was in charge of the initial response and convened the first emergency COBRA meeting (innocently named after the room, Committee Briefing Room A).
But then we heard a bus had been blown up. Just like 9/11, a perceived accident turned into a terrorist atrocity.
Fifty-two people died at the hands of home-grown suicide bombers, the worst loss of British lives since the 9/11 attacks.
It became clear their grievance was with our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But it was crucial our response didn’t inflame the Muslim community.
We set up seven community-led working groups under the banner of Preventing Extremism Together (PET) to develop practical recommendations for tackling violent extremism. Community involvement was vital.
Ten years on, al-Qaeda has been replaced by Islamic State. But this government has failed to learn the lessons.
The Tunisia gunman crafted his deadly skills at an IS training camp in an “ungoverned part of Libya”.
We faced the same situation after removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.
When will we realise that our military involvement in the Middle East only make matters worse?
Cameron even wanted to take us into Syria, which would have led to us fighting on the same side as IS.
Thankfully Labour, the Lib Dems and rebel Tory MPs stopped Cameron and US President Obama from turning a desperate regional dispute into a major international war.
But now the PM’s planned “Full Spectrum Response” could put UK and US airstrikes in Syria back on the table.
And what are we doing to prevent another 2,000 British Muslim men and women going to Syria to help IS?
The Government has passed a law to compel teachers and lecturers to report students they suspect might have “extremist views”.
Surely engagement with the Muslim community is far more important than encouraging teachers to become an army of spies.
This government wants to impose Western values and democracy abroad but seeks to abolish human rights and snoop on our emails, social media and phone calls at home.
It also wants to strengthen links with undemocratic Saudi Arabia and the military government of Egypt, which deposed the last elected Prime Minister.
It’s no wonder British Muslims who fled to Syria felt more allegiance to IS than the UK. It’s not their parents’ fault, it’s the Government’s policies that help to radicalise them.
Airstrikes and sending in the SAS cannot guarantee Brits will be safe from IS attacks on every beach and in every city.
Our continued intervention in the Middle East means this Arab Spring has turned into a long and bloody winter.
This is a regional dispute that requires a regional solution.
We should put more pressure on Israel to commit to recognising Palestine, ending an injustice which still fans the flames in the Middle East.
From the Crusades [well, that is another story] to Iraq and Syria, Western intervention never works. It didn’t a thousand years ago and it doesn’t now.
Until we recognise that, Britons will never be truly safe in Arab countries – or even on the streets of the UK.
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