I have been challenged on my assertion, made on behalf of Big Brother Watch on several occasions, that we did not change our way of life in the 1970s even though British society faced greater threats then than we do today. My critics have sought to suggest that the IRA then were not the threat that Al Qaeda is now.
In response, I point out that in 1972 alone, the IRA killed 100 British soldiers and wounded 500 more. In the same year, they caused 1,300 explosions. 500 British soldiers died during the Troubles.
Including murders committed by other paramilitary groups but excluding paramilitary fatalities, 1,798 people were killed in Northern Ireland-related terror attacks during the 1970s.
Furthermore, a number of other terrorist groups were active during that time and inflicted many casualties - whilst not impacting directly on the UK, they certainly represented a threat to British people abroad (particularly if you were on a plane they hijacked, a common 1970s event), and they impacted on the international security situation generally: inter alia, The Baader-Meinhof Gang / Red Army Faction; The Red Brigade; The PFLP; Carlos the Jackal. Of course, feel free to add others I've missed in the comments.
On the other hand, the objective harm posed by Al Qaeda and co to the United Kingdom today is much lower. Whilst they are repugnant and their acts vile, whilst the harm done to their victims is tragic, we should not lose perspective when dealing with the vital question of proportionality when considering something as drastic as curtailing freedom. When people seek to justify the enormous invasions of our privacy and fundamental diminutions of our liberty with the assertion of what they think is truism and cliché about the "grave danger" we face today, you must confront them and make it clear that you do not accept their premise. We are less threatened today than we were in the 1970s
Hat tip: Frank / EH
