The horrifying attack on the doorstep of the British parliament, an institution that is a global symbol of democracy, is a reminder of the challenge that faces countries everywhere as the noose tightens around the so-called Islamic State caliphate. Malcolm Turnbull rightly construed it as an “attack on parliaments, freedom and democracy everywhere”, noting that Australia’s parliamentary traditions and the rule of law that sustains them owe much to the Palace of Westminster in London. British Prime Minister Theresa May was 40m away from the scene of the attack and Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood worked frantically to try to save the life of stabbed police officer Keith Palmer.
Once more, a cowardly terrorist using nothing more sophisticated than a hired car driven at speed and a kitchen knife has brought murder and mayhem to the heart of one of the world’s great capitals. The need for vigilance and determination to face down murderous Islamic extremism has never been greater.
The tactic used by the London terrorist has been seen before. He bulldozed his car into the crowd on Westminster Bridge, striking innocent French schoolchildren before crashing into the fence around the Palace of Westminster, killing at least four people, with an Australian numbered among the 40-odd wounded. On Bastille Day last year a truck driver acting in the name of Islamic State killed 86 people on the promenade in Nice. A few months later in Berlin, a stolen vehicle was used to crash into a Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 56. In recent years this tactic has been a hallmark of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel, with cars and knives used to kill and maim innocent people waiting at bus stops.
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