Counter Terrorism: Administrative Response in the United Kingdom
| Author | Lt.-Col. T. Smith |
| Published date | 01 January 1987 |
| Date | 01 January 1987 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/095207678700200104 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Counter
Terrorism:
Administrative
Response
in
the
United
Kingdom
Lt.
-Col. T.
Smith,
formerly
Canadian
Army
Introduction
'If
the
1970s
can
be
described
as
the,decade
of
the
terrorist
then
the
1980s
have
so
far
shown
no
sign
of
being
different,'
(McNee,
1983,
p.
135).
The
foregoing
obser-
vation,
published
four
years
ago
by
a
former
Metropolitan
Commissioner
of
Police,
holds
equally
true
today
in
circumstances
which
offer
little
promise
of
immediate
change.
Terrorism
continues
to
demand
attention
of
government,
the
Gommercial
world,
and
the
general
public
virtually
on
a
daily
basis.
For
many
British
citizens
resident
in
Ulster
the
threat
of
terrorist
attack
has
be-
come
a
fact
of
life,
although
civilian
casualties
have
substantially
diminished.
Those
same
'troubles'
of
Northern
Ireland
have
made
a
significant
impact
on
mainland
Britain
during
the
past
sixteen
years,
and
remain
a
potential
danger
to
public
safety.
Fortunately,
Great
Britain
has
experienced
little
in
the
way
of
home-grown
terrorism.
The Angry
Brigade
did
make
a
brief
and
ineffectual
appearance
in
the
early
1970s,
and
currently
Animal
Rights
activists
have
taken
to
using
low-level
versions
of
terrorist
tactics
as
a
form
of
protest.
Terrorism
of
an
international
character,
however,
has
spilled
over
into
Britain.
Nonetheless,
despite
such
tragic
incidents
as
the
shooting
of
WPC
Yvonne
Fletcher
in
April
1984,
the
United
Kingdom
has
not
been
a
principal
target
of
inter-
national
terrorist
violence.*
Rather,
Great
Britain
has
been
used
as
the
occasional
killing
ground
by
those
waging
foreign
conflicts.
For
example,
there
have
been
attacks
by
Palestinians
against
Israelis,
by
Sikhs
against
Hindus,
and
by
Iranians
against
other
Iranians.
The
challenges
presented
by
this
politically
motivated
violence,
or
terrorism,
have
been
many
and
wide-ranging.
Response
has
been
similarly
eclectic,
although
not
totally
welcomed.
Armed
police
now
patrol
openly
at
selected
airline
terminals,
more
stringent
security
precautions
have
been
introduced
at
government
and
com-
mercial
facilities,
and
legislative-measures
place
greater
controls
on
public
freedoms.
Important
changes
have
taken
place
in
government
administrative
practices,
pro-
cedures,
and
associated
infrastructures.
Some
of
the
modifications
have
been
open
and
easily
recognized,
others
have
been
accorded
less
attention
and
publicity
in
keeping
with
traditional
norms
or
for
reasons
of
security.
It
can
be
hoped
that
*Excluding
PIRA/INLA,
who
are
international
terrorist
groups
by
accepted
definition.
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
2
No.
1,
Spring
1987
42
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