EUROSCOPE. Manchester attack, and the enemy within

On Tuesday evening, less than 24 hours after 22 people, including an 8-year-old girl, were killed in the horrific suicide bombing in Manchester Arena, thousands of people gathered at a vigil at Albert Square in the centre of the city including leaders of all faith groups and from across the communities in what is one of Britain’s most diverse cities. “We will defy the terrorists by working together to create cohesive, diverse communities that are stronger together,” said the city’s Lord Mayor Eddy Newman at the gathering. Similar vigils took place across the country, while the attack attracted widespread condemnation from across national community groups who pledged to continue to work together.

The attack on Manchester bore similarities to other recent attacks in the West in terms of choice of venue (these included the Bataclan concert hall in Paris and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando Florida) as well as timing (the attack on Paris just days before the country went to the polls). In terms of Britain it marked a significant escalation on the scale and nature of the attack — the first to have been specifically targeted at young people, and has proved the most deadly since 2005, when four bombings across central London transport killed 52 people and injured hundreds of others.

Emotionally, the attack has potentially been even more devastating, hitting the young and vulnerable, and ripping families apart, at what was meant to be a joyous occasion, and for some one of their first opportunities to enjoy teenage independence. Adding to the dreadful uniqueness of the situation was the assessment of Britain’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre that another attack could be imminent, leading the government to raise the country’s threat level to severe for the first time in over a decade.

The government has implemented Operation Temperer, a pre-planned programme designed for times when the threat level is particularly high which allows for thousands of military guards to take to the streets, bolstering the ability of Britain’s police forces to protect its civilians. On Wednesday, soldiers were seen on the streets of London, including arriving at the Houses of Parliament, where just two months ago, a terrorist drove a car through pedestrians and stabbed to death an unarmed police officer.

With the general election campaigning resuming gently at a local level on Wednesday, and set to resume fully on Friday, after being suspended on Monday following the attack, the coming weeks will be a major test of Britain’s strength at a pressured time. Dating back to the Irish Republican Army attacks that hit the country, to the 2005 attack in central London, Britain’s response to terror attacks, have been seem by many internationally as an example to follow — with transport and infrastructure quickly resuming, and people swiftly returning to work, and communities standing together in very public displays of solidarity, against attempts to divide communities.

The response by Mancunians in the immediate aftermath of the attack suggests that this will be the case now too. Attempts by the far right English Defense League to hold a protest on Tuesday was met with any angry public response, while provocative comments by the right wing commentator Katie Hopkins directed at Britain’s Muslim community has also provoked a strong backlash and a public campaign aimed at persuading advertisers to avoid the media platforms that she operates within ( Daily Mail and LBC radio ).

The UK Independence Party’s manifesto launch on Thursday was met with accusations that it would be using the terrible events for political gain. Fears that UKIP could make gains in the election had until recently dissipated as they performed particularly poorly in local elections earlier this month — a move that was seen by observers as a signal that the Conservatives were now seen as the main party of Brexit and that their messages on immigration were tough enough to satisfy many who had concerns in this area. Whether the attack on Manchester has any impact on support for them remains to be seen.

The attacks come at a time when divisions have been heightened within communities following last year’s vote to exit the European Union. Anecdotal evidence has suggested an increase in hate crimes — not just on European citizens but on those from other communities, including Britain’s sizeable Asian communities. There are already concerns among some within the Indian community in Manchester that young people in particular could be targeted in retributive attacks on minority communities.

Fortunately, the city is well placed to tackle it — having recently elected a mayor, Andy Burnham, who in his campaign pledged a zero tolerance approach to hate crimes and other forms of intolerance. At a national level too, so far the response of political leadership has been commendable. While Theresa May emphasised the messages of “solidarity and hope” that characterised the response of Manchester’s population to the attack, and the “spirit” that pervaded Manchester and Britain that would never be broken, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn hailed the city’s defiance, and pride, “refusing to be divided by hate.”

Details of the attacker are still emerging — as a result of a leak by American intelligence his name was revealed far quicker than Britain had hoped for. Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber, was a 22-year-old British citizen, born in Manchester to Libyan parents who had opposed the regime of Colonel Gaddafi. It has also emerged that members of the Libyan community in Manchester had previously attempted to warn authorities of Abedi’s radicalism. If this proves to be the case it will add pressure on security services, which have stopped at least 12 attacks in 2016 alone. However, the country and security services greatest challenge will be tackling the issue of home-grown radicalisation, which is proving to be a recurrent theme as Britain confronts such atrocities.