Evening Standard comment: Commuters stay calm amid the floods
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The floods and storms have not only cut off Cornwall; they have created havoc on the rails all over Britain. At Paddington, the operator Great Western was advising passengers not to travel at all. Last night Virgin cancelled all trains out of Euston — leaving unfortunate Manchester United and Liverpool fans stranded — and passengers en route to their destinations were delayed by hours. Travellers on the East Coast line to Edinburgh sat on their train for seven hours on the north Yorkshire moors, sustained by water and biscuits from staff. Less dramatic but vexatious disruptions to the London to Reading route are affecting thousands of journeys. Given the nature of the problems — trees, rather than leaves, on the lines in some cases — the operators are probably doing the best they can.
In the circumstances, we can only applaud the sheer resilience of travellers who are continuing to battle into work. People can do quite a lot on board a train courtesy of smartphones and iPads but being productive for hours at a stretch in a stationary carriage or on a shuttle bus service is a tall order. What is remarkable in fact is that so many passengers are stoical, even cheerful, in these wretched circumstances, though parents travelling with children over half term may find their patience stretched.
We should in fact do our best to keep our weather problems in perspective. Mercifully few have lost their lives in these storms and while we may find fault with the way the floods have been handled, most people are dealing with the inconvenience and disruption with a commendable civic spirit. We can only hope for the best, and that rail operators will have the decency to keep their buffet cars well stocked; the least passengers deserve when they are stranded on a train is a cup of tea.
Jihadists at home
It is sobering to learn that the so-called Home Counties suicide bomber, Abdul Waheed Majeed, from Crawley’s Martyrs Avenue, appears to have been radicalised here. Security sources suggest he was an associate of men convicted in connection with the Bluewater bomb plot and also had links with extremist preacher Omar Bakri.
We may yet learn more about what the intelligence services know about Mr Majeed but his stated intention in going to Syria was to take part in an aid convoy. Putting suspects under surveillance is tightly regulated — those concerned must be proven not only to be a risk but a continuing risk. There are many British Muslims who talk jihadist talk; it is harder to identify those who may pose a genuine threat. Given the number of convictions since 7/7, the security services do a good job. The best preventative measure, besides close scrutiny of Muslims travelling to Turkey en route to Syria, is to implement the recommendations of the counter-extremism task force, notably greater use of extremism disruption orders, using civil orders to impose restrictions on individuals, similar to bail conditions. The cost to civil liberties is worth it.
Scots and the pound
The Chancellor, George Osborne, may not win himself many friends in Scotland by insisting that the country cannot have it both ways: it must choose between keeping the pound or independence. Yet he is obviously right. As the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said recently, a common currency means fiscal policies that are in harmony. The truth is that a Scotland whose tax and spending policies are wildly at odds with England’s cannot sensibly keep the same currency. When Scots vote, they must do so knowing the consequences.