Hysterical Paranoia on the Megabus

[Schnellzug]

Four and a half hour terror panic on the M6 Toll Road when someone* was spotted pouring Liquid into a Smoking Bag.
* what, do you think, is the likelihood that this someone may have been of, shall we say, non-European appearance?

isn't it good to see that a "genuinely concerned member of the Public" can cause the Police to swing into macho gun-toting action at the drop of a hat.
Do you think that if your car was broken into, they'd respond in such dramactic fashion? Still, it shows that they're Ready for Anything should the Terrorists try to Strike at the Olympics. :roll:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=116295

 

[jopsuk]

Latest breaking news on the gruniad site suggests it was a "health improvement aid for smokers" according to the police. E-cigarette anyone?

 

[Johnuk123]

Four and a half hour terror panic on the M6 Toll Road when someone* was spotted pouring Liquid into a Smoking Bag.
* what, do you think, is the likelihood that this someone may have been of, shall we say, non-European appearance?

isn't it good to see that a "genuinely concerned member of the Public" can cause the Police to swing into macho gun-toting action at the drop of a hat.
Do you think that if your car was broken into, they'd respond in such dramactic fashion? Still, it shows that they're Ready for Anything should the Terrorists try to Strike at the Olympics. :roll:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=116295

Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing.

 

[Mojo]

Never travelled by Megabus, but can't say I'd be too impressed to be forced to sit down, separate from others, on the floor of a motorway for several hours, and be surrounded by terrifying police dogs.

 

[Schnellzug]

Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing.

So you consider it to be a proportionate response to the Concerns of a Concerned Member of the Public, and not at all an excuse for some macho gun slinging to show off? they couldn't have (say), if this Member of the Public really was concerned, just pulled it over quietly on some pretext, but had to go in with the Assault rifles? You don't think that was just a show of machoness to Show the World that the Government is ready if the Terrorists should try to Strike at the Games? Well, i'm glad that you have such faith that our Government is there to protect us.

 

[EM2]

Do you think that if your car was broken into, they'd respond in such dramactic fashion? Still, it shows that they're Ready for Anything should the Terrorists try to Strike at the Olympics. :roll:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=116295

They're hardly comparable events, but I'd like to think that if someone had broken into my car and I then discovered a bag that appeared to have smoke emanating from it that yes, they would take similar action.

 

[MCW]

If it was me and I found the bag, I'm the silly twit who would go what is in the bag... *KABOOM* 'oh £$%^!!!'

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I think the police responded appropriately to a report (and indeed a suspicious report giving the current liking for liquid bombs) of a possible threat.

What shouldn't have happened is for it to take so long to reopen the motorway and let the coach go on its way.

Still though, it's an excuse for people to whine about the government and those nasty police officers.

 

[radamfi]

Will compensation be offered to the delayed passengers and/or Megabus by the police? I wonder how popular the whistle-blower was with his fellow passengers?

The fact that the fear of terrorism caused so much disruption means that the terrorists have already won.

I wonder if that incident would have happened in less war orientated European countries?

 

[tbtc]

Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing.

Yup - this is quite a change from the SHOCK HORROR headlines at lunchtime

 

[MCR247]

@jazzchantoozie
Andrea Mann
Say what you like about Megabus but the real criminals are the train companies, whose high ticket prices force terrorists to travel by coach

hahahaha

It was all a misunderstanding, apparently. They thought they were on the road to Martyrdom. The Megabus driver had said Nottingham.

 

[WatcherZero]

Is it really a huge overreaction though, the police have praised the reporting and the underpant bomber was found because of the vapour from his failed detonation. On the same day you had 6 arrested suspects thought to be in a only loosely developed plot and a large number of terror charges laid against the person arrested in Burnley last year.

 

[jopsuk]

It was an over reaction, coupled with the usual police-led misinformation- this time about it being someone pouring liquid into a container.

 

[gordonthemoron]

do you think they'll ban all liquids from coaches now?

 

[TRN481V]

Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing.

Isn't it just?

Can you imagine the outcry if this had been a terrorist attack with many fatalities and it came out that Megabus and the authorities had laughed off peoples' concerns?

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

So you consider it to be a proportionate response to the Concerns of a Concerned Member of the Public, and not at all an excuse for some macho gun slinging to show off? they couldn't have (say), if this Member of the Public really was concerned, just pulled it over quietly on some pretext, but had to go in with the Assault rifles? You don't think that was just a show of machoness to Show the World that the Government is ready if the Terrorists should try to Strike at the Games? Well, i'm glad that you have such faith that our Government is there to protect us.

:roll:

 

[BestWestern]

Considering the location of this incident - the M6 Toll in the middle of nowhere - I do wonder if a more proportionate initial response couldn't have been found. If the coach had reached central London then it might be that such choices don't exist, but where it actually was even if it had gone up in a cloud of green smoke it would hardly have been Armageddon.

Whilst it's reassuring to know that we actually do have the capability to react quickly and thoroughly to such a threat, it does worry me that there is apparently no process for first establishing the extent of the situation, rather than sending in the whole cavalry at the outset (the military apparently included). The obvious concern is what happens if some muppet decides to cause mayhem by making hoax calls; we would presumably see this happening every time. You also can't help but wonder if it would be handled the same way if the call came in on day one of the Olympics - would we see this lot turn up and cause outright panic, herding everybody into pens and keeping them holed up for hours even if it became clear very quickly that there was no threat, and sending half the spectators running to Heathrow for the next plane home?!

As for the timescale, it's depressingly evident that the police maintain an attitude that they will take as long as they damn well like, regardless of how long it takes to actually deal with the issue for which they have been called. A report was received from one passenger on a coach carrying less than 50 people, regarding one other passenger. That other passenger was in possession of nothing more noxious than a fake fag. Even with required precautions, how long should it really take to check that one out? Four hours to wrap it up is surely unacceptable, and it's difficult to think that there wasn't some degree of posturing going on here. It's just fortunate it was the Toll, which is always empty, and not the main M6!

 

[Deerfold]

For me, the most suspicious thing was the Megabus was on the M6 *Toll*. Something funny going on there...

 

[EM2]

Considering the location of this incident - the M6 Toll in the middle of nowhere - I do wonder if a more proportionate initial response couldn't have been found. If the coach had reached central London then it might be that such choices don't exist, but where it actually was even if it had gone up in a cloud of green smoke it would hardly have been Armageddon.

You're assuming that any putative device was being prepared for immediate detonation. Some chemical reactions take time to fully form and will give off vapour and heat while they do. Even if this was an immediate reaction, any device could be connected to a timer to detonate at a chosen time.
It was probably felt that this was the perfect location to stop the coach as any damage would be minimal.

 

[BestWestern]

You're assuming that any putative device was being prepared for immediate detonation. Some chemical reactions take time to fully form and will give off vapour and heat while they do. Even if this was an immediate reaction, any device could be connected to a timer to detonate at a chosen time.
It was probably felt that this was the perfect location to stop the coach as any damage would be minimal.

I don't dispute that, definitely better to deal with it there rather than later on. It's just the level of initial response which I find a tad concerning. By all means get the wheels turning, but surely the deployment of some kind of 'crack' team to carry out an initial assessment would be more appropriate? As I said, it bothers me that any old call from a member of the public can result in this level of disruption with no questions asked. What if it had been central London or indeed any other major city, how would that have worked? Mass evacuation and civilian panic - because somebody had a pretend fag?!

I still believe that any such alert occurring at an Olympic venue would somehow be handled more discreetly, in order to save public alarm and national embarrassment as everybody heads for home. With this sort of well publicised response we are opening the doors right up for any organisation who lack the capacity to launch an attack but might decide that frequent hoax calls of this nature would make a very effective terror campaign. The group of morons who set fire to lineside cables in Bristol a few weeks back, for example, or the countless other cranks we now seem to harbour who count themselves as 'anarchists' and enjoy causing inconvenience to those of us who actually have a life to get on with :roll:

 

[pemma]

For me, the most suspicious thing was the Megabus was on the M6 *Toll*. Something funny going on there...

According to press reports, Megabus control phoned the driver and told him to go on to the M6 toll, then to immediately pull over on the hard shoulder after the toll booths and await police advice.

The driver who was supposed to take that bus had phone in sick so we don't know if the replacement driver was a regular on Megabus.

 

[anthony263]

Will compensation be offered to the delayed passengers and/or Megabus by the police? I wonder how popular the whistle-blower was with his fellow passengers?

The fact that the fear of terrorism caused so much disruption means that the terrorists have already won.

I wonder if that incident would have happened in less war orientated European countries?

I would hope some compensation is paid to the passengers who have been delayed and I suspect things could have been tense between the whistleblower and the other passengers (Certainly I would have been pleased even if I did understand their concerns)

I do think the police did an ok job although I think they took too long to deal with the inccident and get the coach on its way.