That latest article on the student is sickening.
And the nonsense on the news about the Albanians they arrested "for having links to terrorism" (and let us remember the guys they shot a couple of years back for "having links to terrorism" and who were exhonerated!!!) - any berk can get all the information they need on the underground, as already said, it is on sale all through London. You can buy books of photos of the underground, look at images of newspaper website photos of it, you name it.
Infact a number of high profile and "high risk" buildings are also very easy to access, even see the blue prints and archetectural documents. NONE of this is to do with terrorism, this is to do with a failing Police service that is trying desperately to grasp at straws to show that they are tackling crime and in the process is allowing a minority of power hungry and dangerous individiuals to fullfill their fantasy.
I can see several things now happening or have happened:
1. Tourists and students go elsewhere. They spend their money in countries that dont accuse them of being a risk
2. TV and film companies, and also journalists and press photographers, refuse to cover Police events. They will end up refusing to help publicise crimes in certain circumstances - after all why should they scratch the Police's back when their camera guys are getting s44 stops daily. (See the british journals of the press)
Your programs like Police Interceptors. They wont happen
3. Some members of the public now wrongfully beleive it to be illegal to film of photograph in a public place, and to photograph people (inc children) or buildings. I have had this conversation several times with people. There used to be a style of "candid" photography that people used to document the fashions of the day, the events or the scenery and this has now largely been destroyed.
Large volumes of amateur photographer based records of times gone by have been made and tell us what life used to be like. How hard industry might have been, or the slums people lived in. Imagine it in 100 years time when historians look back and theres a social quarry of information missing - the corporate and the professionally made records only tell half the picture.
4. Trust of the Police will wain, and the public will wonder if reporting that their neighbour is selling drugs is really worthwhile. The police will be someone to fear rather than respect or help. Those that join the force will be seen as "having something wrong with them" or of being a bit up themselves.
Lastly - London is NOT the center of the damn world. I still say we went through far worse with the IRA. Technology and survellance is thousands of times better in this age and if border controls had been properly implimented then we would not have as much of a threat if at all from those that do actually pose one.
