Enough Is Enough

Reuters photo

By

Hazel Speed

‘Run, Hide, Tell’ is the official advice given by the Metropolitan Police should anyone be caught up in a terrorist attack and this seems to work, up to a point it would seem; Police told restaurants and bars to turn off lights and lock down, while they advised others in the streets to run away from the dangerous areas. At one moment in time, according to some eyewitness reports, the terrorists hesitated as to where to go next to kill and injure innocent people.

Elisabeth O’Neill, Mother of Daniel, spoke to journalists after visiting her Son in Kings Hospital. He had been in a bar, went out for some air when a man went up to him and said “this is for my Family, and for Islam,” then stabbed him.

He got back into the bar and his friend put a tourniquet around him. Everyone was told to go downstairs and in due course the Police took him to hospital lying Daniel flat across their knees in the back of a Police car, keeping pressure on his wound. Miraculously, he seems to now be able to walk a little according to friends but his Mother said he was still dizzy, and more scans are needed to ascertain if he has suffered any liver damage.

The Assistant Police Commissioner confirmed in a Press Statement that 8 armed Police Officers used an unprecedented 50 rounds. Rather surprisingly an innocent member of the public was shot, but survived. One wonders if the Police accidentally shot him if he were near the terrorists. The full details will eventually be provided no doubt.

The Assistant Commissioner was asked if the Army had been involved, but he said they were not. Most people would think, however, that in incidents of this nature, they should be.

Suggestions regarding the installation of large concrete kerbs along the London bridges and existing kerbs, may help preclude vans and cars from mounting pavements without, at the same time, detracting from the architecture of the bridges.

Many have said that the paramedics and ambulance services rescued injured people from dangerous areas, thereby putting their own lives at risks.

A female victim had been operated on throughout the whole night having had knife wounds to her face, neck and back. It may be the case this is the victim who yelled for help whilst being attacked, and a man tried but did not succeed. He says she could have been stabbed between 10-15 times from what he saw.

A BBC Journalist (Holly Jones) happened to be walking along London Bridge as events unfolded and narrowly missed becoming a victim herself. She saw the driver who she said ‘looked demented’ and certainly knew what he was doing as he targeted groups of people, driving in a zig-zag route. Holly rushed to help a French lady who was knocked down. The lady could not speak English but Holly spoke French. The woman wondered where her boyfriend was. At this point Holly and another lady decided to ascertain if he had been thrown into the Thames. The third lady then shouted down to someone in a boat to see if they could find anyone in the river, Police boats subsequently searching.

A British Transport Police Officer was seriously injured with knife wounds, and is in hospital, also an off-duty Metropolitan Police Officer, (a rugby player), apparently flung himself at a knife-wielding terrorist, doing so by means of a rugby tackle, but the Officer subsequently suffered severe knife wounds, so he now is in hospital.

Some of the Police only had their batons as defence/attack weaponry, until the arrival of armed Police, which was very fast indeed. From the original call to the Police, it only took 8 minutes for them to arrive, seek out the terrorists, and kill them.

A civilian ran into the road and pointed one Police car to a street which the terrorists had run into, and that no doubt was of invaluable assistance, saving time and lives.

A Police helicopter was reported to have landed on London Bridge, the SAS expert team nicknamed ‘Blue Thunder’, said to be used for the first time.

Their quick arrival and actions must have saved many lives. The terrorists wore fake canister belts to infer they were wearing suicide explosives, but in reality, they adopted their strategy to deter mass crowds from disarming them. That trickery cost yet more innocent lives, which is probably what they were relying on.

Tourists, and locals alike, say they will not be deterred by terror attacks, but will continue living their ordinary everyday lives, either as ‘Londoners’, (which they remain proud to be), or as tourists, who will certainly be visiting the UK again.

“Enough is Enough”

Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement in front of Downing Street Sunday morning after an emergency Cobra meeting.

Mrs May spoke of this ‘evil ideology’ and that ‘enough is enough.’

Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick, recently appointed, gave a factual account of events and was stoic, but one could sense emotion in her voice. She should be proud of the quick response by Armed Police to the incidents Saturday night.

Mrs May, one could tell, is going to take some drastic action.

One terrorist apparently, according to a witness statement, told of a young girl being stabbed repeatedly and shouting ‘help me’. Her attacker had told her ‘this is for Allah’. She was stabbed repeatedly, apparently, at least three times.

Mrs May’s speech referred also to cyberspace areas where terrorists hide and that in society some difficult conversations will need to be had. One was left in no doubt that new initiatives will emerge following this attack.

It was said that Political campaigning had officially been halted for Sunday by all the Parties except one, namely UKIP, who state that they will continue campaigning as otherwise British democracy will be undermined and the UK General Election is this week – 8th June 2017, this despite the political rhetoric within the PM’s own speech and Jeremy Corbyn’s later comments.

It is only proper, albeit also realised that it is most ‘inadequate’, to say that all decent hearts and prayers go out to the families of victims and friends, likewise in respect of those injured.  All those who were caught up in this nightmare of events will have been traumatised by what they witnessed as well. How many more times do we have to keep saying these sad words in the wake of terrorist attacks?

Mrs May stated things are going to change. Let us hope so

Hazel Speed

Photo (c) Hazel Speed – used by kind permision to Tuck Magazine

Hazel Speed is a Philosopher, Writer, and Artist with various creative projects at differing stages of development. Her flaship project is an animation which has produced a film short: www.thepinkprofessor.com. She has also written an E-novel, ‘Just Suppose…!‘ which is available via the attached link.

Art sites: www.candystoreart.com, www.terrificart.com, www.artbadges.co.uk.