Conservatives press for terror probe
Conservative leader Michael Howard has called for an inquiry into how the authorities reacted to the London terror attacks.
Although stating he did wish to apportion blame so soon after the atrocities, Mr Howard said it was prescient to hold an inquiry to ascertain what possibly went wrong.
That said, Mr Howard reiterated his party’s support for the government in its war on terrorism. The Tories consistently backed the Labour governent’s decision to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the US to oust Saddam Hussein from power.
“In an ideal world we would have been able to prevent this dreadful attack and we weren’t able to do that. It is not to say that was anybody’s fault, we cannot achieve a guarantee of total immunity from these attacks in this world,” he told BBC News 24.
“It is sensible to have an inquiry, with the benefit of hindsight, into what was done and what wasn’t done to see if there are lessons which could be learnt.”
Mr Howard made the case for a unified border police force and minister for homeland security.
The Tories’ homeland security spokesman, Patrick Mercer, added that an inquiry would provide valuable lessons for the future and eke out “gaps in our defences”.
Dismissing the calls, cabinet minister John Hutton said “every ounce” of effort was needed to bring the criminals to justice.
He stated for the record there was no evidence of “complacency” on the part of the security services.
Mr Blair is due to make a statement to the Commons today on the bombings and the outcome of the G8 summit.
He is expected to ask for more collaboration with EU governments to defeat terrorism, especially the retention of telephone and internet exchanges for up to a year.
