Is the United Kingdom no longer a safe place to visit?

[The Holy Bottom Burp]

Yep, pretty much life goes on as normal in the UK, though I'm sure the latest atrocity will impact tourism in London for the next month or so. People have short memories, I wouldn't blink an eyelid about a weekend in Paris for example, but in the wake of the last terrorist attack there I might have second thoughts. Luckily for me I've inherited an innate ability to reason and rationalise, the safest country to visit is the country that has just been hit by terrorists. Security is at the maximum, security forces are working 24/7 to shut down anything resembling a terrorist cell, armed response squads are waiting in the wings. Come to London and have a time Grumpuss, I live in the north of England but I travel to London on a regular basis to watch my team (Tottenham Hotspur) play, worrying about being stabbed by a Muslim terrorist doesn't even make my radar.

 

[Grumpuss]

The same things you would have done if you'd been visiting last month.

Based on what Theresa May said today, I'd say things have changed since then.

 

[illykitty]

I won't lie, it is stressing. But the odds of being attacked are quite low, and I personally won't stop going out or even going to London. There's many things you can die of, just by living. There's many other things that could harm or kill you, but you don't think about them. At this moment, I feel stressed from all of this but life goes on. It's not about forgetting, but about being rational about all of this.

 

[The Holy Bottom Burp]

Correct illykitty.

 

[HonestJoe]

Based on what Theresa May said today, I'd say things have changed since then.

She's a politician at what could be a key point in an election campaign so I'd take what she (or any other politician) says about this with a pinch of salt. Anyway, even if the high-level political and policing environment is changed by this, it's still no reason for us to behave significantly differently in our day-to-day lives.

 

[Mister Emu]

A little ridiculous, the U.K. has had some terrorist attacks, and unfortunately will likely suffer more as long as the scourge that is violent Islamism exists.

Still a safe place to visit, and my desire to do so one day hasn't been dimmed by the insanity of a death cult.

 

[Rival]

Despite that fact that I live here, our island is fine damnit.

 

[Grumpuss]

She's a politician at what could be a key point in an election campaign so I'd take what she (or any other politician) says about this with a pinch of salt. Anyway, even if the high-level political and policing environment is changed by this, it's still no reason for us to behave significantly differently in our day-to-day lives.

I don't even know which party it is that would be more aggressive against terrorism. If it's like the United States, both of them might bluster differently, but are equally ineffectual,

Despite that fact that I live here, our island is fine damnit.

Glad to hear it.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Isn't it worth a few innocent lives to protect all the thousands of refugees fleeing harsh conditions in the middle east? We really must have some compassion.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Isn't it worth a few innocent lives to protect all the thousands of refugees fleeing harsh conditions in the middle east? We really must have some compassion.

Sarcasm, right?

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Why sarcasm? President Trump wants to keep terrorists out of the US and everyone says he is crazy. So apparently they want to let more potential terrorists into the country and take a chance that a few lives might be lost because of it.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Despite that fact that I live here, our island is fine damnit.

Even then...

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I expect the statistical level of "safety" isn't measurably any less than it was before. Of course, the perceived level of safety is going to be substantially less for many people, which is the main point.

 

[ShivaFan]

I had my life threatened - literally told to me in public "we will kill you! You must be killed!" - by a group of vocal Islamic Jihadis in full public view near a gateway across the street from one of London's parks. I was threatened when they realized I was a "white Hindu" by my scarf I was wearing with OM on it.

This was a few years ago, however. Things have become much worse - if you can be identified as a Hindu or other target, you can be threatened with death in certain areas. At the time, a British soldier was assaulted by Islamists for the crime of drinking a beer. He was attacked a brutally assaulted after leaving a pub.

It is now estimated there are 27,000 "known" Islamic Jihadis (not including sympathizers) in England and around London. Authorities say it takes 6 "intelligence" officers to "monitor" one Islamic radical - and with 27,000 minimum it is impossible to do so as there are not enough resources. This would require 162,000 "agents" to monitor, which do not exist.

At this juncture, so many jihadis have been allowed to enter UK or return from Syria after fighting with ISIS or from other of the six known nations which have large numbers of terrorist training camps and which their governments are allowing to thrive, that it is impossible and so there are now two choices:

1) ... continue to monitor them, which is impossible and isn't working, or ...

2) ... go house to house and root them out.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Why sarcasm? President Trump wants to keep terrorists out of the US and everyone says he is crazy. So apparently they want to let more potential terrorists into the country and take a chance that a few lives might be lost because of it.

Trump is a nut case and wrong as usual. Where terrorist acts have been carried out in Europe and the UK nearly every one has been home grown. It is rare and the exception to the rule for it to be a refugee or incomer. Neither Trump nor anyone else can predict who will become a terrorist or killer.

Even with these latest atrocities The Uk is a very much safer place to live than the USA. There are very few places where it is not safe to walk alone at night.

 

[metis]

Why do you think that something like this happened, and what should someone who is interested in visiting the United Kingdom do to keep safe?

The UK, including London, is a considerably safer place to be than in any major American city or the U.S. as a whole.

 

[Grumpuss]

The UK, including London, is a considerably safer place to be than in any major American city or the U.S. as a whole.

Well, I don't know about ANY major city- London is colossal. It seems fairly safe to me, although there is an increasing chance of getting blowed up on a bridge...

 

[metis]

Well, I don't know about ANY major city- London is colossal. It seems fairly safe to me, although there is an increasing chance of getting blowed up on a bridge...

I said "American city", and the comparative homicide rates verify that London is relatively safer as compared to large U.S. cities.

 

[Grumpuss]

I said "American city", and the comparative homicide rates verify that London is relatively safer as compared to large U.S. cities.

Yeah, but for criminals in high crime areas. Tourists on London Bridge or kids at a concert though...

 

[metis]

Yeah, but for criminals in high crime areas. Tourists on London Bridge or kids at a concert though...

I do believe there are areas and cases whereas having more guns in some private hands may be an "evil necessity".

I live near Detroit most of the year, but I simply do not allow any guns in our house. And local and state police here in Michigan, along with the FBI, do say that guns should be highly restricted. Unfortunately, the NRA-bought Republicans here in the state go against their recommendations and also against common sense.