Security first, politics second

Read David Cameron's full speech (4200 words) here.

"We must not allow the security of this country to become a political football – either between the parties or within the parties. That does not mean avoiding debate or  promoting fake consensus.  But it does mean avoiding the temptation to use national security as a political positioning exercise – an attempt to portray one side as being “tougher” than the other… whether it’s one side in a general election, or one side in a leadership election.  A strong and steady approach puts security first, politics second.  Putting politics before security leads to an approach that is hasty and hysterical - and that can never be in the national interest."

Deputy Editor

Comments

[Andrea Leadsom]

Definitely need a Minister for National Security. The Home Office is struggling in almost every area - we can't afford to muddle the domestic problems with prisons, immigration etc with the need to properly manage the threat from terrorism.

24 hour border controls is another must - we can't go on accepting a situation where the government has no idea who is in our country at any time!

I didn't realise before that Coast Guards did not have authority to board a boat that is causing suspicion. Extending their powers is an interesting idea worth pursuing.

[stuart andrew]

Tim

Pudsey Open Primary has selected Stuart Andrew

[ToMtom]

Word doc is evil - what about Adobe PdF or Open Office.............DOC is a virus host

[jorgen]

Yes, please make it into PDF.

[jorgen]

If we can't get PDF, how about plain text?