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Don't listen to music on headphones when commuting 'in case of terror attack'

The former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee believes people need to get used to disruption and changes to their daily lives because of security scares 

Saturday 02 January 2016 17:01 GMT
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People should be more alert to their surroundings and not be on their phones or listening to music when commuting, according to a former Home Office minister.

Baroness Neville-Jones, the former Minister of State for Security and Counter Terrorism, believes that people need to get used to disruption and changes to their daily lives as a result of counter-terrorism operations and security scares.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: "I think being alert is very important. I am alarmed by the number of people I see wandering along the street entirely engaged in their mobile telephones and with their ears plugged into music and they are not aware of their surroundings.”

“You need to be aware of your surroundings," Lady Neville-Jones advised. “You do have to take some personal responsibility."

She added: "I do think we can be more alert than we are."

Her words come only days after a security alert in Germany, where two railway stations were closed due to a suspected terrorist threat. Baroness Neville-Jones believes it could become the norm in the United Kingdom.

"I do think we are going to have to get used to what we have seen yesterday in Germany - that is to say alerts which close places of public functions, and higher levels of security in big public gatherings.

"That is prudence and proper caution on the part of intelligence and the police authorities."

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