Skip to content
Login

Media Centre

Government must give communities a greater role in counter-terrorism

Home Secretary must ‘win over’ public in the fight against terror, says Demos

Responding to his speech today on security and freedom, Demos called on the Home Secretary to make real his pledge to allow all sections of society to play a greater role in delivering security.

“As the attacks in London in July 2005 demonstrated, British citizens are at the front line of the war on terror”, says Charlie Edwards, Researcher on the Global Security Programme at Demos. “But we cannot expect government alone to keep us safe. We need to move beyond the idea that governments can deliver security to us or for us on our behalf - lasting and genuine security will only be achieved through partnership.

“The Home Secretary is right to reach out to communities to join forces with the government in organising our own security. To achieve this, however, he will need to overcome the sense of alienation from government and the security services felt by many communities.”

In his speech given at Demos’ London offices, the Home Secretary argued that the government, police and security services need to work in partnership with communities if they are to be effective in tackling new threats to our collective security. Dr Reid said that, “Our common security in this country can only be assured by a common effort from all sections of society."

The Home Secretary’s speech follows the publication of a number of reports by Demos security team, including Joining Forces (2005) and The Business of Resilience (2006), which have argued for a ‘networked’ approach to counter terrorism that involves business, communities and individuals.

Notes

  1. The Home Secretary the Rt. Hon. John Reid MP gave a speech to Demos on Wednesday 9 August 2006. Copies of the speech will be available to download from the Home Office website from 10 August 2006.
  2. Charlie Edwards is a Researcher on the Global Security Programme at Demos. His recent publications include The Business of Resilience: Corporate security for the 21st century (with Rachel Briggs) and A Force for Change: Policing 2020 (with Paul Skidmore).
  3. Demos is the think tank for everyday democracy. It has a major programme of research on global security.
Contact the Demos press office