Copenhagen attack is a reminder to Britain

 The assault on a seminar about blasphemy in Copenhagen is an alarming reminder that the Charlie Hebdo attacks were not a one-off. One person has been left dead; three are injured. Reports say that up to 200 shots were fired, which suggests that things might have been even worse. The Swedish cartoonist speaking at the event, Lars Vilks, has had many death threats in the past for his caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Also present was the French ambassador to Denmark – all of which implies that what was being targeted was, yet again, free speech, The Telegraph reported.
We cannot discount the possibility that this sort of thing could happen in Britain. Small-scale terrorist attacks can be launched almost spontaneously and are not logistically too difficult to put together. European Islamist terror cells have links to those on the ground in Britain: this newspaper has documented the persistent presence of terror suspects in the UK, many of whom have been shielded by human rights legislation. And this country’s international terrorist threat level is currently set at severe, meaning that an attack is considered to be highly likely. Britain was a target in 2005, and it still is.
Therefore, the UK must be prepared. There has to be co-ordinated action across all government agencies. Those agencies must have the necessary tools to do the job, which means anti-terror legislation that makes it possible to monitor the wrongdoers, isolate them and control their movements across international borders. Yes, civil liberties are important and must be respected. But the situation is febrile. After all, we are engaged in military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the Middle East – and it is that criminal organization that gives a great deal of moral and material support to European terrorists. In short, Britons cannot disregard Paris or Copenhagen simply as tragedies that happened to other people. All democracies are at risk. The Islamists’ goal is to destroy Western freedom, and the West will have to fight to defend it.