The downgrading of the UK’s credit rating by S&P in June 2016 following the Brexit referendum result, which meant that the UK lost its precious ‘AAA’ rating, indicates that the overall cost of the UK borrowing will be higher as and when the Bank of England finally cuts back on its Quantitative Easing Program. How the markets react to this, and the overall price they deem necessary from the UK Government, as it issues debt in more normalized bond markets, will be the real indicator as to whether the age of Austerity is finally over.
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L OUIS W ILSON
How recent terrorist acts have shaped the political climate in the UK
-March 22nd, Khalid Masood drives a rented vehicle into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, before crashing the car in to the gates of the Palace of Westminster and fatally attacking a police officer with a knife. Six, including the attacker and police officer were killed along with 49 injured. -May 22nd, a single perpetrator detonates an explosive device in the Manchester Arena, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers exiting an Ariana Grande concert. 22 individuals, including the attacker, were killed and 120 were injured. This was the single most deadly terror incident in the UK since the 7/7 bombings of 2005. -June 3rd, a white van ploughs into civilians on London Bridge before crashing. Three assailants exit the vehicle and attack people in Borough Market armed with knives, before being shot dead 8 minutes later by armed police. 8 people died and a total of 48 were injured. -June 19th, another van was used as a battering ram against innocent worshipers near Finsbury Park Mosque. One person was killed and 11 more were injured, the perpetrator, Darren Osborne was charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder. Two of these attacks occurred during the run-up for the general election which led Theresa May to suspend any future campaigning for a day each as a mark of respect to the victims. In the aftermath of all these events many began to question whether enough is being done to prevent these attacks and what should be changed in order to prevent such incidents from ever happening again. In the Labour party manifesto for the 2017 general election Corbyn promised to boost the policing on Britain’s streets, pledging to provide as many as 10,000 more police officers during his government. May was under pressure as during her time as Home Secretary, she oversaw cuts to police funding. This would be followed with increased spending to the security services to find potential extremists planning on orchestrating attacks. Corbyn believes that extra policing on the streets can tackle the issue at hand and approach segregated communities which the authorities currently find challenging to access. In the past many criticised Corbyn of being too soft on terrorism, referring to having friends in the organisation known as Hamas, which has since changed in light of recent events. He has noted as the war on terror as having no effect and in some instances inciting further attacks on British soil and that home-grown terrorism must be destroyed. …In the space of 89 days 32 people were killed by individuals in terror-related incidents.
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