are we security conscious enough.?

There has to be a balance I think. Life is a risk, but we have to live it.

I am inclined to agree, remembering the IRA times in London vividly, especially as we are told that it will be when not if.

I remember the IRA too - in Birmingham a shop blew up behind me shortly after I walked out. But where do the checks stop - as you enter every shop/

I have posted on here before about a friend who recently reported an unattended holdall to the staff of a coffee shop she was in, in a large shopping centre. When my friend said it was suspicious and could be a bomb, the manager just laughed and said 'ooo I hope not'. There was an article on The One Show this week where they left an unattended suitcase in a shopping precinct and only a few people reported it. I suppose it's the it's not going to happen to us mentality.

I saw that KatyK I was shocked by the results.
I agree it's a fine line. On the one hand I want to feel safe but I don't want it to be too intrusive. Having said that of course I have no objections to showing my bag but would be uncomfortable with a "pat down"

Ooh, that depends, nina?
I do agree though that there should have been security checks at a well known art gallery and any other similar place where there can be lots of people. I'm always checked in any of the London galleries/museums, although as yet not theatres. As CG says, we've been told it's when, not if.

I guess there may have been a risk assessments and reviews on how effective checking bags actually is in preventing violence. Thing is once something becomes common place anyone determined to cause harm will find another way. I am not sure how many incidents there have been with people concealing weapons in bags and abandoning them.
Life has always been a risk..more people killed in road traffic accidents etc. but we still get in cars regularly! It is all about perspective and proportion!

Car crashes are accidents, though.

Bella You can still die! Checking is about reducing risk..if it does not do that no point!

There is a case in the news at the moment about that teenager who left a bag on a Tube train - two passengers reported it to the driver who took it into his cab, went along for four stops then looked inside and it was a bomb. He then reported it!

When was this, I don't remember hearing about it and I live there too?

That was the incident at North Greenwich last week- near me

Sorry message meant for the shop blowing up in Birmingham?

Security in London has become so much more sophisticated over the years and a lot less visible. But we should not become too nonchalant about it.

Don't put all the onus on security personal, we have a role to play too.

There was a set up in a Coventry shopping centre where a large case was left, in plain view, for several hours.. Over 3,000 people passed it by and only a handful (mainly OAPs) reported it to a security guard who was about 20m away.

We have to do our bit too.

In the 1970's, my hubby and I went to the ideal Home exhibition where every handbag etc was searched before anyone was even allowed inside.
Didn't stop the bomb being planted, and detonated.?

My daughter and I went to see the Welsh National Opera perform Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' at the Bristol Hippodrome last year. All bags were checked at the door, not for weapons or explosive devices but for alcohol! No chance of a reasonably priced drink in the interval. The bar prices are ridiculous! ??

It's important to be aware - especially these days when the security risk is assessed to be high both here and in other countries - look at France's experience in the past 12 months. Too easy to leave the responsibility for keeping your eyes open and reporting something suspicious to someone else.

We have a close friend who missed being blown up - by seconds - in the Charing Cross bomb explosion during the 70's. Makes you think differently.

My OH was involved in the Sefridge's bomb - he was blown across a restaurant and covered in glass. I still feel twitchy at the thought of untended packages, and would certainly report them at once and get out.

I am all for security, even though at Airports it always means giving extra time etc, but it is for OUR safety. Checks at Museums etc is good, especially these days when weapons seem to be the thing people are hiding, what is the world coming to?!

Well at least my post was read by a couple of people and perhaps others will be a rad more aware now too.

Anya that's the incident that KatyK and I commented on up the page.
As I say

On a lighter note, last week after I had picked up DH, we got home to find the keys still in the front door.

Oops! Sorry Nina & Katy I do confess to not reading the whole thread. Mea culpa.