Stockholm Syndrome

A terror attack in Sweden used to be fake news. Sweden? Come off it. Painfully neutral, alongside Switzerland, against even the most aggressive provocations from neighbours and visitors from other parts of Europe. Nobody in their right mind would attack Sweden. This still holds true. Nobody in their right mind has attacked Sweden.

What the neutral countries are slowly realising is that neutrality is not an option. In a globalised world, to quote someone we did not regard as a friend, George W. Bush: you are either with us or against us. There is no space for neutrality. And anyway, with Trump on the scene, Bush starts to look benign.

What London has been doing quietly for years, must now be copied in major cities around the world. Israel were even earlier to the game of course. It is impossible to park in a shopping mall car park without being checked for bombs. This may sound scary to the outsider, but it was less intrusive and far more efficient than you might think. London hasn’t gone that far, but all of our major targets, including (surprisingly) the Transport for London office, has been surrounded by virtually invisible security barriers. At TfL in Southwark, they are reinforced bollards which are only apparent should you walk into one. At the South Bank street market behind the Royal Festival Hall, the barriers are reinforced plant pots. Everywhere I look in London, the major landmarks and key offices have these surreptitious blockades. They are works of genius and should be celebrated. How to protect the public without them even noticing? A gigantic 10-ton plant! You can’t get more English.

And that is what Nice, Stockholm and all the rest were too slow to notice. Large public gatherings need upgraded security. No longer is it possible to close a road with an orange cone. You need permanent barriers if they are busy and permanent pedestrian zones. For temporary and one-off events, you can put more dramatic removable barriers in place. But leaving the public unprotected is no longer an option.

In Basel recently, they celebrated their annual Basler Fasnacht with a carnival. Security was lamentable or non-existent. They should pay heed. Blockades sound dramatic, but can be made invisible. What is no longer acceptable is non-existent security for large social gatherings.

Expect the bollards to appear on Westminster Bridge any week now. It is an admission that this bridge, more than any other, is a tourist attraction, thronged in summer to a dangerous level. Selfie sticks may poke you in the eye. People, walking backwards, sometimes end up in the road. But it is time for the bollards to stop the traffic from coming onto the pavement.