Stand up to terrorism? Count me out

Are we all standing united, then? Not letting anything divide us? Not giving way to bigotry or intolerance or hate? And we’re all going to be terrifically brave and go out to vote on Thursday, because that’s what the terrorists don’t want us to do… do they?

When I heard the news about the London Bridge attack, I felt a number of emotions pretty well together. Oh God, not again, was the first, followed by indignation, compassion, sympathy and admiration as appropriate for perpetrators, victims, police, passers by and the have-a-go cab driver. But the very next, perhaps simultaneous, reaction was ennui. Here we go again. Not another attack, not the obligatory responses. Not another day in which we all go through the motions of stating the obvious or concurring in sentiments laid down by other people. Ken Livingstone set out the template for the correct response to Islamist terrorism after the 7/7 attacks, in that celebrated statement in which he declared ‘nothing will ever divide us’, along with other terrifically inspirational sentiments.