After the murderous violence by Islamist terrorists in Austria and France, raising the threat to “substantial” in Britain was depressingly predictable.
The move by security chiefs means those paid to protect us believe an attack is highly likely but that they don’t have specific intelligence about any imminent atrocity.
Precautionary and intended to keep us on our guard, the new terrorist threat level is a chilling reminder the danger isn’t over just because IS suffered defeats in the Middle East.
Warped jihadis are still a menace to life.
Vigilance is sensible yet we must also resist being frightened by the men of violence.
Remaining united is important too.
The Islamists – who slaughter more Muslims than members of any other religion – are desperate for us to turn on each other.
Beating the Islamists isn’t close but we must never let these evil killers intimidate us.
A gift of hope
England’s chief medical officer offers a glimmer of hope by saying that lockdown could shrink the virus’s transmission rate to below one by December 2.
Chris Whitty’s prediction raises the possibility of a better-than-expected Christmas.
The other good news is of preparations for family doctors to be put on standby to vaccinate people most at risk before Christmas.
Progress relies on the public following the rules, which is likely, and the Government getting its act together, which isn’t.
All we can do is play our own part and hope that others – even Boris Johnson – do too.
What a State
One outcome in the US elections was certain when we woke up today after a crazy four years of lies, incitement and stupidity in the White House.
And that was that Donald Trump, the worst President in modern history, the Toddler-in-Chief, was never suddenly going to emerge as a calm, measured and reasonable statesman after his divisive reign and election campaign.
