I haven't had to deal with visas to the UK for 30 years so please wait for someone far more knowledgeable than I to come along to help you put your mind at rest!!
Why? Because some reports have suggested the attack was carried-out by a man of "asian" appearance? Two things: This is Britain, not Trump's paranoid America and secondly, it is almost certain that the attacker was born and grew-up in Britain. He may well have spoken with a Brummie accent.
If there was effect on this, it would be the possibility of the area being cordoned-off to vehicles. I was amazed when i went there a couple of years ago that everyone is welcome to walk or drive around the area ie as a tourist you can be as close to these iconic places but it can also go wrong terribly very easily.
Its all about balancing freedom with security especially in places like London, if we have to start changing our way of life because of terrorism then terrorism wins. We are British and will carry on as normal
Just as I predicted, yesterday's attacker was British-born and bred: What is not such great news is that he was known to the Police and MI5 who investigated him in relation to extremism.
thanks. i should then take down this thread then since it may impose a different reaction to other people.
People have included the post in their response so no point in its removal. The comment has been taken at face value for what it is.
The following statement has just been released (at 3.30pm) by the Metropolitan Police: The man police believe to be responsible for the terrorist attack in Westminster yesterday, Wednesday, 22 March, has now been formally identified as Khalid Masood. “Masood, aged 52 (25.12.1964), was born in Kent and detectives believe he was most recently living in the West Midlands. Masood was also known by a number of aliases. “Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack. “However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences. “His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife. “He has not been convicted for any terrorism offences. “Anyone with any information about Masood can call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline 0800 789 321.
Disturbing Details Emerge About Westminster Attacker Khalid Masood Claire Reid in NEWS Details about Westminster attacker Khalid Masood have emerged, along with pictures from his childhood. Fifty-two-year-old Masood died on Wednesday after launching a sickening attack on innocent people in Westminster. Full details of the British-born attacker are still being pieced together, however, the acting deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police announced in an early morning press conference that Masood's full birthname was Adrian Russell Ajao. Masood was born in Dartford, Kent and had previously spent time in prison for stabbing people. He used a number of names throughout his life, including Khalid Choudry and Adrian Elms, it has been reported. As a teenager, he attended Huntleys Secondary School and one former classmate, Kenton Till, told the Daily Mail: "We were good friends for about three of four years. He was very bright, very academic and he was good sports - good at everything really. He was very good at football. Masood as a schoolboy, before he changed his name. Credit: Huntleys School "He wasn't religious at all. He was a big character, very friendly and a good laugh. He might have been the only black kid at the school. He experienced a little bit of racism but not a lot because he always tried to be popular. "But he was just a normal kid - good fun to be around. At the time he was good at chemistry and I think he wanted to go into pharmacy or something like that." In 2000, he slashed the face of a man called Piers Mott during a row. Speaking in court at the time, Masood said he snapped after experiencing racism in his local community. He was jailed for the attack, and just three years after his release he was jailed once more, again for stabbing someone in the face. It is believed he converted to Islam during his time in prison. Credit: Met Police Neighbours who lived near Masood in Birmingham, where he resided until Christmas, described him as a 'strange character' and called him 'the vampire', according to the Mail, because he would often dress in black and walk around at night. They told the Daily Mail that Masood lived with a woman and their young children. Adrian Baker, who lived in the same village as Masood for several years, told the Press Association: "I'm gobsmacked. He didn't appear to be very religious. He would go into the local pubs. A house in West Ham, London which was the former home of Khalid Masood. Credit: PA "I do remember a fracas involving a guy called Piers Mott. This was a long time ago. I remember Elms being a bit of a troubled character, which is probably the best way to describe him." A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: "Masood was also known by a number of aliases. He was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack." Speaking to Parliament, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "His identity is known to the police and MI5 and when operational considerations allow, he will be publicly identified. "What I can confirm is that the man was British-born and that some years ago he was once investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism. "He was a peripheral figure. The case is historic. He was not part of the current intelligence picture. "There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot." So far nine people have arrested and are in custody in relation to the attack. One woman has been released on bail. http://www.ladbible.com/news/uk-dis...t-westminster-attacker-khalid-masood-20170324
Isis is developing sleeper cells in the UK using secret online terror guides that teach would be jihadis how to stay under the radar Isis is developing sleeper cells in the UK using secret online terror guides that teach would be jihadis how to stay under the radar Arabic manual hidden behind innocent looking websites on classic cars Step-by-step instructions on how to avoid detection by security services Tells would-be western jihadists how to delete their digital footprint Police and government have said an attack on the UK is almost inevitable By Sam Matthew and Martin Robinson for MailOnline PUBLISHED: 10:25 GMT, 28 April 2015 | UPDATED: 01:32 GMT, 29 April 2015 Islamic State (ISIS) has published a shocking step-by-step online 'teach yourself terrorism' manual for radicalised British fighters. The document, hidden behind innocent looking websites on classic cars and art, details how to plan a strike in the UK without detection. The Arabic guide, said to be written by a number of different authors, will further ignite fears that the terrorist group has placed sleeper cells in the UK, who are laying in wait to carry out attacks. The document includes basic instructions for wannabe western jihadists on how to delete their digital footprint to avoid detection. ISIS has reportedly published an online manual giving step-by-step instructions on how to plan terror attacks without detection The manual says that if used correctly it would be 'impossible' for the counter terrorism services to access 'important information on the Muslim brothers,' according to the Mirror. Among the lessons are how to conceal a computers unique IP address and the method for disarming a smartphone's tracking software. The text is also said to give step-by-step instructions on how to send encrypted messages and advises how to access the 'dark web,' to research and plan attacks. 'This is just the tip of the iceberg,' a spokesman for Global Vigilance, an offshoot of the hacking group Anonymous, who discovered the material told the newspaper. 'The training material brings home the level of sophistication they posses.' Home SecretaryTheresa May and senior British police chiefs have previously said that a terrorist atrocity involving an ISIS-style beheading or bomb attack on civilians is now 'almost inevitable'. Belgian national Dimitri Bontinck, who is known as the 'Jihadi Hunter' for rescuing youths from IS, has also said attacks are likely. 'I've been told by very influential sources that they have sleeper cells over here, and are preparing to unleash their war in Europe,' he said last year. This is not the first time that IS has published basic guides for its radicalised recruits. +5 The manuals existence will further ignite fears that a sleeper cell is laying in wait in Britain to carry out attacks +5 The guide is just the 'tip of the iceberg,' according to Global Vigilance, who discovered the material +5 Home Secretary Theresa May has previously said that an attack on the UK is almost inevitable A 50-page manual has been circulated online called Hijrah, meaning 'holy emigration', which includes details of safe houses and routes for Western wannabe jihadists and has been compared to a gap year travel guide. Another, titled Questions And Answers On Taking Captives And Slaves, instructs IS fighters on how to buy and sell women and girls who have been captured in war as booty. There are also Arabic manuals that give advice to Jihadi mothers on how to raise a new generation of 'Caliphate cubs' trained for war. BRITAIN'S HOMEGROWN JIHADISTS AND HOW UP TO 1,000 OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR ISIS IN SYRIA ARE ALREADY BACK IN THE UK Between 500 and 2,000 Britons are believed to have fled the UK to fight for ISIS - and around half may already be back home. Experts believe that all of them will have been taught how to make bombs and use weapons in the hope they may launch attacks here. Many young women have also left for Syria to fight and marry jihadists, believing they can have a better life there. A major problem has been the relative ease they have been able to fly to Istanbul in Turkey and jump on a bus to get into neighbouring Syria. Here are some of the most notorious Britons who left to join ISIS: Mohammed Emwazi, the British jihadi now known as Jihadi John It is thought that during the early stages of the conflict Emwazi was a prison guard, along with three other Britons, leading to them being nicknamed The Beatles. Escaped captives had given him the name John, after Beatles lyricist John Lennon, which eventually became Jihadi John. In previous interviews, French hostages have described how Emwazi talked to them about al-Shabaab and the war in Somalia, making them watch videos of the fighting there. But it appears he then chose ISIS instead and fled to Syria. Emwazi first rose to international attention in August 2014 when he appeared in a video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley. Since then he has been seen in videos showing the beheading of Steven Sotloff, another American journalist, Peter Kassig, a former U.S. solider. Also murdered at the hands of Emwazi were David Haines and Alan Henning, two British aid workers, and Japanese hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yakuwa. Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 23, rose to prominence after he was pictured holding a decapitated head while standing in Raqqa's central square. Bary is a former rapper who once had his music played on Radio One. He is understood to have walked out of his family's £1million home in Maida Vale, west London, last year to join ISIS, telling them he was 'leaving everything for the sake of Allah'. Friends said Bary - an aspiring rapper on the 'grime' music scene - grew increasingly radical and violent after mixing with thugs linked to hate preacher Anjem Choudary. He has posted a series of photographs online, including shots of him masked and posing with guns under the title 'soldier of Allah'. In other messages he called on Allah to 'grant us martyrdom', and praised Osama Bin Laden. Bary, whose music has featured on Radio 1, is one of six children of Adel Abdul Bary, 53. Bary Snr was extradited from Britain to the US in 2011 after an eight-year legal battle that made him a cause celebre of the Left as lawyers took his publicly funded case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Investigators believe Bary Snr was one of Bin Laden's closest lieutenants in the infancy of Al Qaeda and ran a London cell of the terror network. He faces life in prison if convicted of involvement in the bombings of US embassies in East Africa in 1998. Ifthekar Jaman Ifthekar Jaman, 23, died last year in a battlefield clash 2,000 miles from his Hampshire home last December after bragging how life in Syria was '5-star' jihad The young Briton boasted of fighting ‘5-star jihad’ in Syria but was killed. Ifthekar Jaman, 23, died in 2013 in a battlefield clash 2,000 miles from his Hampshire home last December. He was one of an estimated 350 British men to have taken up arms with Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria – where they are known as British Kataa’ib, meaning British Brigade. Jaman declared he was ready to die as a martyr, vowing: ‘I don’t plan to come back. Life is for the hereafter... it’s an eternal paradise so the sacrifice is small.’ He also urged fellow Britons to join him, using his Twitter account to glory in his hate-filled missions. He described fighting in Syria as ‘5-star jihad’ because of its ‘relaxing’ nature. Photographs showed Jaman – a supporter of fanatical British cleric Anjem Choudary – apparently manning armed checkpoints in the Middle Eastern war zone just before his death. Muhammad Hamidur Rahman Primark supervisor Muhammad Rahman left his high street job for Syria, but died in a gunfight A former supervisor at Primark who wanted to join the world’s most feared terrorist group, only to be killed in Syria. Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, 25, from Portsmouth, was shot dead in a gun fight in July, a day before the Muslim festival if Eid, said his family. His father, Abdul Hannan, 52, an Indian restaurant worker, said the family received a text message from a friend of Rahman in Syria who informed them that their son was dead. Rahman is the second British jihadist from Portsmouth to die in Syria. The first was his friend Iftekhar Jaman, 23, who died in December 2013. Rahman’s father, Mr Hannan, said that Jaman went to Syria first at the beginning of last year, and then took his son there by contacting him through social media. He said that Rahman did not tell any member of his family that he was going to Syria, but suddenly disappeared from Portsmouth. Days later, they received a call from him saying he was in Syria. Mr Hannan said: ‘He asked us to pray for him, and said he wanted to become a shaheed (martyr) for the sake of Allah.’ Salma and Zahra Halane 'Terror Twins' Salma and Zahra Halane, both 16, who have 28 GCSEs between them, fled Manchester for Syria, have married warlords and hope to train as doctors to treat ISIS fighters Schoolgirl sisters fled Britain to join ISIS and marry warlords and admitted their pride at being known as 'Terror Twins' and 'loves' living in Syria. Salma and Zahra Halane, both16, who have 28 GCSEs between them, ran away from their family in Chorlton, Greater Manchester, last year for 'paradise' in the war torn Middle East. They have vowed never to return home after following their brother to Syria and social media updates suggest the pair are training to use grenades and Kalashnikov rifles. The twins are now believed to be based in Raqqa, Syria - an Isis stronghold - where they are said to have already married fighters. The sisters were hard-working students who hoped to train as doctors. One recent tweet from their account said: 'Training to be doctors to Training to be killers... I will become a doctor for Isis not for these pagans'. The pair left Manchester after sneaking from their bedrooms in the middle of the night and caught a flight to Turkey, before crossing the border into Syria. Police said the pair are thought to have followed their elder brother, who also ditched his own ‘excellent’ academic career to join the ISIS terror group around a year ago. Abdul Waheed Majeed +5 Abdul Waheed Majeed was a father-of-three from Sussex who became the first Briton to blow himself up The father-of-three was the first Briton to blow himself up. Laden with home-made plates of armour akin to the film Mad Max, he drove at high speed towards a jail in Aleppo, Syria, before detonating in a huge explosion which killed Majeed and dozens of Syrians. Rebels initially claimed up to 300 inmates were able to escape. The video was reportedly shot by fighters with the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra rebel group and begins with footage of the truck, followed by shots of fighters exchanging heavy fire. The rebel group said the suicide bomber was called Abu Suleiman al-Britani, a pseudonym indicating his British origins. In the UK, before he fled, Majeed drove hate preacher Omar Bakri to his local mosque in Sussex twice a week. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eper-cells-ready-strike-UK.html#ixzz4cIFudrKP Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
I agree with your sentiment Timmers, but after reading the details of Markhmas thread, it would be foolhardy if additional security measures were not permanently established in vulnerable areas in UK. It might have an impact on the way of life, but surely that is an acceptable price to pay if it saves innocent lives.
The problem is that if we implement 'Fortress Britain' then our tourism trade will be badly affected. The reason why unarmed Police Officers are deployed at the Carriage Gate entrance to Parliament is that it stands in front of Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) and tourists like to be photographed with Britain's Bobbies who stand guard there. Already soldiers guarding Buckingham Palace - and other Royal Palaces - are themselves guarded by armed Police kitted-out like Robocops, often so close as to detract from an otherwise decent photo. Sadiq Khan has been campaigning for Parliament Square to be all closed to traffic and be pedestrianised to prevent future such attacks in future. But the problem there is that vehicles won't then be able to enter or leave using the Carriage Gate entrance - or any others on the south side of Parliament Square. This will impact on ministers' ability to vote in Divisions, prevent use of the underground and surface car parks, create logistics problems for collections and deliveries and create the need for a hugely extended (therefore hugely expensive) ring of steel at the square's periphery. And closing Parliament Square to traffic wouldn't prevent a similar attack to Thursdays - the terrorist entered the Parliamentary estate on foot!
Totally agree they would also just move there mobile targets to other non political areas but with perhaps greater carnage and continuing to try and suppress our freedom and the greatness of the UK
Scenes like this give me a very slight glimmer of hope. Hope British Muslims start a real movement and do this type of thing regularly.. Kudos!
