Thanks to Chris Mason from BBC News Online for the Headline,
Terrorists are scary people and there’s no doubt that we should be aware of the threat they pose.
However, as an ex-Mayor of Manchester who doesn’t know much about rural life, there is a lot of rural crime around, particularly when the price of diesel has gone up astronomically due to the situation and uncertainty surrounding Iran’s status. Yes perhaps Iran did play a role in the attempted theft of diesel if the rise in prices motivated those men.
Perhaps it is worth the effort of driving all the way down from London in three white vans to rob the well-heeled farmers that are distracted by a ploughing competition and perhaps have kept their eye off the ball with protecting their assets, such as quad bikes, diesel storage and any other agricultural implements that they can get there hands on.
As Wes Streeting said about the farmer who initially rang the Police after trying to contact base security and on the “special number ” they were given by the base for emergencies such as this one. Only for it to ring and not be answered. That they only had “a partial picture” of the situation. A pretty scary partial picture if you are confronted by three white vans blocking the road and masked men running around. One of whom gets scared and rings the Police himself, perhaps thinking the farmer is going to run him down in his 4×4. That police call should be interesting evidence.
Yes ,Politicians on all sides, perhaps you have access to information that we don’t and we rightly so can only have a” “partial picture”. However, this Headline is pretty abhorrent. Even weapons of mass destruction need evidence( Tony Blair didn’t come too well out of that ).
Prime Minister Burnham should be more responsible and should let the Security Services do their job and also ensure that those living near the base have their needs respected. Why else give them a “special telephone number” if you don’t plan to answer it? Meanwhile stop this gainsaying and making statements which in reality are heightening people’s fear.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏








