I’m confining my thoughts to Great Britain here (not the UK, for reasons that will become clear). Whenever terrorists have attacked Brits directly, we have reacted firmly and decisively. Whether it be Clive and Siraj-ud-daulah, Nelson blasting seven colors out of Algiers (at a time when the rest of the world, the US excepted, was paying tribute), Theodore II of Ethiopia, Hitler or the major IRA mainland bombing campaign, we reacted without any shilly-shallying. The IRA’s success actually came after a concerted covert propaganda campaign to persuade the mainland British that those funny bowler-hatted wearing chaps in the orange sashes were somehow foreign. We should also remember that very few people actually died in the resumed mainland campaign – it was targeted at property and at disruption, making the IRA seem like a blasted nuisance rather than a terrorist group.

So I’m not persuaded terror works on the British. This is a test of that theory. Luckily Red Ken will have no role to play – this will be Blair’s call, and so far, for all his faults, he has been forthright on this score. I can, however, see ID cards and other abuses of British liberties being rushed through. It will be interesting to see, for instance, if the civil contingencies act is invoked and Ministers rewrite the law by edict…