Leading article: The need for calm, caution and intelligence

As we approach the second anniversary of the London bombings, Britain is once again is in a state of high alert. Saturday's attack on Glasgow airport seems to have been carried out by the same group that planted two car bombs in central London last week. It seems wise for the authorities - and, indeed, the public - to prepare for the possibility that there could be more attacks to come.

This, of course, represents a baptism of fire for the new Prime Minister. It is encouraging that Gordon Brown had the presence of mind to point out yesterday that our response to the threat of terrorism must include measures to win the "hearts and minds" of ordinary Muslims. In the past, ministers have responded to terrorist alerts by focusing exclusively on questions of security. In fact, the way to defeat this modern scourge is by separating the minority of extremists from the moderate majority. However secretive they are, terrorists cannot operate in a vacuum. There will be those around them who suspect, or know, that something dreadful is being planned. It should be a central objective of the Government and the authorities to encourage those who have this information to come forward.

It is also welcome that Mr Brown stressed that people should "carry on living their lives as normal". There is nothing to be gained from bringing the country to a halt. This need for calm applies especially to community relations. It would be a double disaster if these attempted attacks resulted in a backlash against law-abiding Islamic communities in Britain.

However, it is ominous that Mr Brown also spoke of "tougher security measures". It is vital that the Prime Minister does not rush through new repressive anti-terror laws. Mr Brown warned of the need for enhanced security measures at airports and crowded public places, and we have been told to expect extra police patrols and more checks on cars. Such measures are clearly reasonable under the circumstances.

But there are also signs that Mr Brown plans to use these attacks to justify an increase in the amount of time a suspect can be detained without charge by the police. Here, it is vital that our political leaders pause for thought. The arguments against extended detention are as powerful as they were when the Government first proposed it two years ago. As well as being an unwarranted assault on our civil liberties, extended detention has the potential to alienate those very communities whose help the police need to foil future terror plots.

There is another lurking danger with respect to the Government's response to these attacks. Mr Brown rightly argued yesterday that "we have got to recognise what the nature of the threat that we are dealing with is". But does he properly understand it? The Prime Minister spoke of the terrorists' "grievance against society, particularly against the values that we represent". But he made no reference to the boost that Britain's military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have given to the jihadists' propaganda and recruitment efforts.

Much of the evidence collected on home-grown extremists over the past six years suggests they are brainwashed, through a combination of twisted theology and selected evidence of military interventions around the world, into believing that the West is waging a war of oppression against Muslims. That is a different thing from a simple hatred of "our values". And it requires a much subtler policy response from the Government.

Unless Mr Brown moves on from the simple-minded analysis of his predecessor regarding the motivation of these terrorists - and in the measures necessary to contain the threat - he risks making the same mistakes all over again.

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