THE terror attack in Manchester is yet another brutal reminder of how far our country has fallen. On the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, worshippers were mown down and stabbed outside their synagogue. Two innocent men are dead. Families are shattered. A community is traumatised. And all of it was entirely avoidable.
The killer was not some shadowy figure who slipped undetected into Britain in the night. He was a man who had been here for decades, housed by the taxpayer, granted citizenship and given the chance to build a life in a country he clearly despised. Instead of gratitude, he harboured hatred. Instead of contributing, he plotted destruction. His very presence among us was the result of a political class that has lost its most basic instinct – to protect the people it serves.
This is not an isolated incident. Time and again we see the same pattern. Politicians open our borders to those who come from hostile cultures, give them passports, dole out housing and benefits, and then act surprised when blood is spilled on our streets. Worse, they attempt to explain it away with platitudes – ‘thoughts and prayers’, or the tired excuse that a lack of funding meant the attacker was ‘missed’ by this programme or that. Enough of this. The truth is simpler and more damning: our leaders chose to take the risk of admitting people who do not share our values, and ordinary Britons are paying the price in blood.
Every day, boats packed with unvetted men cross the Channel. Hundreds at a time, marching into Dover without a shred of scrutiny. Some slip quietly into our communities, others are given homes and handed papers. Can we honestly say with certainty that there is not an Islamist terrorist hidden among them? The answer is obvious: we cannot. And if we cannot, why are we continuing to take this gamble with the lives of our own people?
The government must wake up. It is not enough simply to stop the boats – though that must happen at once. We must also take firm, lawful action against those who actively promote or engage in hatred and extremism within our borders. This begins with the rigorous enforcement of our existing laws: the removal of foreign nationals involved in or supporting terrorism, and the revocation of dual citizenship where it is legally justified. It means strengthening counter-terrorism surveillance, ensuring extremist preachers are barred from public platforms, and cutting off the overseas funding networks that enable radicalisation.
In short, those who abuse the privilege of living in Britain while seeking to undermine it must face clear and consistent consequences. This is not about punishing belief or background; it is about protecting a free and democratic society from those who would destroy it.
The scale of the problem is precisely why boldness is required. Terror does not spring from nowhere. It grows from the soil of imported sectarianism, of tolerated extremism, of communities left to fester in grievance and hostility rather than embrace the nation that gave them shelter. That soil must be dug out.
We cannot pretend that more ‘dialogue’ or ‘community engagement’ will settle this. We must act with urgency, for if we do not, more families will be grieving, more communities will be fractured and our society will continue its dangerous spiral into sectarian division.
Look around: already, anti-Semitism is rising sharply across our streets, protests descend into violence, and police are stretched to breaking point. This is not just about one attack, however horrific. It is about the future stability of our society. A Britain too weak to defend itself is a Britain condemned to decline.
It is time to stop tolerating the intolerable. No more excuses, no more empty promises, no more candlelit vigils in place of action. The duty of any government, the most basic duty, is to protect its people. Until our leaders grasp this nettle and act with resolve, the bloodshed will continue.
The choice is stark: either we defend Britain, or we allow her to be destroyed from within. The time for dithering is over.
The greatest threat to Britain isn’t abroad – it’s the hatred we have allowed to take root within.
