NEW YORK -- These are trying times for Britain. Two grotesque terror attacks within two weeks. An important and unexpectedly close election Thursday on how to exit Europe.
The issues involved -- stopping terrorism without sacrificing democratic values, ending a long relationship with the least damage to both sides -- would be enough for any nation, much less one as emotionally battered as this one.
The latest outrage, the attack in central London, provoked strong reactions from both candidates. “Enough is enough”, said Prime Minister Theresa May, adding that there had been “far too much tolerance of extremism” in Britain. “All communities must come together”, declared the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Both said that the election should proceed and that the attacks could not be allowed to disrupt the democratic process.
Though different in tone, these were grown-up responses that contrasted sharply with President Donald Trump’s bizarre Twitter barrage in which he variously scorned the mayor of London for seeking to reassure his people, blamed political correctness for what he said was the world’s weak response to terrorism, claimed that the attacks bolstered his case for a travel ban on Muslims and argued that gun control was pointless, because terrorists in this case had used knives and a truck.
That both Ms May and Mr Corbyn have not similarly politicised these horrible events is reassuring. Surely the temptation to do so is there. Whatever their path to suicidal violence, whatever their political motives, the Manchester bomber and the three London attackers shared, as Ms May put it, “an evil ideology of Islamist extremism” that perversely justifies slaughtering the innocent and vulnerable in the name of the Islamic State and its purported caliphate.
Yet despite the provocation, it is essential that neither candidate succumb to the temptation of pledging or imposing the sorts of draconian measures suggested by some commentators, such as locking up Muslims. Disrupting democracy and undermining its values is surrendering to just what the terrorists want.
The political fallout for Thursday remains to be seen. The prevailing wisdom when Ms May called the election April 18, reversing her earlier insistence that she would not, was that she would win by a landslide over a disjointed Labour Party. And whatever the outcome, there is little likelihood that Britain will reverse position and stay in the European Union. But her lacklustre campaign, a flip-flop on social policy and failure to participate in a political debate, combined with a better-than-expected performance by Mr Corbyn (of whom awfully little was expected, to be sure) have steadily trimmed her party’s margin in the polls.
The Tories are still expected to come out ahead, though the failure of so many pundits to anticipate the victories of Brexit or Mr Trump have made many people understandably chary of predictions.
Add to these uncertainties a new wild card -- terrorism, and a shaken citizenry. One week ago Ms May’s prospects looked certain. But as a former prime minister, Harold Wilson, once famously noted, a week is a long time in politics.