London looks around the corner

BRITISH SECURITY officials were tight-lipped Thursday in offering any conclusions about the four frightening but nonfatal explosions that hit London’s subways and a bus. Major newspapers, including the Telegraph, commented in a mostly carry-on fashion today, telling Britons “the unpleasant duty of Londoners ... is to go about their business as normal.” But the Independent, which is politically what its name says, took a stronger stab at it: “Yesterday a series of coordinated explosions ... seemed to confirm our worst fears. Terrorists had struck again.” Although the paper went on to acknowledge all the unknowns of the new attacks, it did offer a prescription to chill the hearts of daily commuters: airport-style security checks on the “Tube.” Estimating a 15- to 30-minute delay per trip, the paper says: “Some will dismiss this out of hand. But the public tends to adapt fairly well to security measures when it can see the point of them.” Well, maybe in London.

Even before the latest explosions, British papers were at war over how to react. The Sun, a fulminating right-wing tabloid, on Wednesday made the Bush administration’s “torture memos” look pale. “We must tear up our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights,” it said. “Any Home Secretary who flinches at the prospect of abusing human rights in wartime is not fit for the job.”

Judy Dugan