Leading article: Welcome signs of a thoughtful response

The new Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, got the tone right yesterday in the House of Commons. In her statement on the attempted terror attacks in London and Glasgow, she took time to praise the competence of the police and ambulance services. She also welcomed the condemnation by Muslim leaders of the attacks (an important acknowledgement at this time of heightened tension). Indeed, her general emphasis on the need for calm was a welcome contrast with the tone often struck by her predecessor, John Reid. Mr Reid warned last year of "the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War Two" and ranted against those who "just don't get it" with regard to the terror threat. Thankfully, there was no scaremongering yesterday.

Just as important, there were no headline-grabbing announcements of sweeping curbs on individual liberties in a misguided attempt to appear "tough" on terrorism. Ms Smith injected a crucial bit of context into her statement: the fact that the Government's investment in anti-terrorism intelligence has doubled since September 2001. It is through intelligence and police work that the threat will be contained, not by giving the authorities blanket powers to detain suspects. A draconian crackdown risks alienating the very communities whose co-operation the Government so badly needs.

It is welcome that the political consensus seems to be holding. Ms Smith's opposite number, David Davis, half-heartedly raised the issue of whether the official threat level should have been raised to coincide with the period of the handover from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown. But, in truth, there seems little point interfering with these indicators in the absence of specific intelligence of an attack. Moreover, the opposition parties and the Government, sensibly, seem unconcerned with making political capital out of these attacks.

We hope this will last. The Government could yet change tack when a new anti-terrorism Bill comes before Parliament this year. For now, Ms Smith and the new Prime Minister have acquitted themselves commendably. One suspects that Mr Blair would have used these attacks as a spurious argument in favour of Britain "confronting" terrorism in Iraq. Mr Brown and his ministers have the space to formulate a more thoughtful response.

The other revelation from this fast-moving case concerned the identity of those arrested. Five of the individuals being held by police are reported to be medical doctors. If doctors were indeed involved, this would confound some of the assumptions often made about the sort of individuals who tend to be drawn into these networks. This should be a warning that reliance on crude "profiling" of potential terrorists is folly.

Just as significant is the nationality of those arrested. Five are reported to be from the Middle East. This has not been officially confirmed, and it is important to note that none of those in custody has yet been charged. But it would be dangerous to ignore the potential for this revelation to have an adverse effect on community relations. Just as the fact that the London Underground bombers of two years ago were British-born Muslims told us nothing about the overwhelming majority of British Muslims, the fact that this terror cell may have been made up of foreign nationals says nothing about the general character of foreigners in Britain.

Through a combination of good fortune and the amateurishness of the bombers, these attacks failed to take any lives. It would be a tragedy if we were to see the perpetrators achieve their aims of sowing terror and distrust through a xenophobic backlash.

Interesting? Click here to explore further