Political Security

I’ve always loved London. I used to love coming up to London when I was a child. One of the things that I loved most was going to Downing St. In those days (the 1970s) anyone could wander up to the front door of Number 10 and have their picture taken with the nice policemen standing at the front door.

Then during the 80s that changed. Thatcher was an such an unpopular Prime Minister that there were serious worries about her safety. So at huge public expense[1], a set of security gates were built at the end of Downing St and you can now only get into the street if you have business there. It’s a shame as a whole generation of children have been denied that photo-opportunity.

This morning I see that it’s gone a stage further. The Government are so worried about terrorist attack that they are putting up concrete blocks around the Houses of Parliament. This is apparently “to stop a suicide truck bomb slamming into the Houses of Parliament”.

London is slowly turning into a fortified city.

[1] I remember thinking at the time that it would surely be far cheaper to just get a less unpopular Prime Minister. But that idea took a few more years to become popular!