THE mantra “Brexit means Brexit” was vacuous, its inanity compounded by its proponent being a Prime Minister who had campaigned for Remain. Now it’s “Enough is enough”, yet said with no shame by a former Home Secretary who presided over swingeing cuts in police numbers; and allowed what appears to have been almost unfettered movement for the Islamic Fighting Group. Most recently as Prime Minister she has consorted with and sold arms to Saudi Arabia, the source of much Islamic extremism.

Of course, Theresa May isn’t responsible for any terrorist outrage. That rests with the depraved perpetrators. However, she does have serious questions to answer in her actions. Cuts have consequences was the mantra from the Police Federation – an organisation she harangued in equal measure to the courage she now lauds in their members.

Under her watch the strain on front-line policing was matched by the denigration of its basis in community policing. Specialist officers seemed valued but beat officers disparaged. Twenty thousand officers aren’t a marginal decline but a full-scale retreat.

As experienced former counter-terrorism officers have been explaining community policing is the bedrock. Beat officers aren’t just some PC Plod developing flat feet but the eyes and ears for the service. They see and hear who’s doing what and what’s going on. As with serious organised crime they see who has a lifestyle beyond their means, who is hanging around with whom and hear snippets from the community. They’re more effective than an anonymous hotline. They’re held in huge regard by their specialist colleagues and it’s appalling that she allowed the sneering, never mind the cuts.

There’s a case for the Prime Minister to answer but she’s right that there needs to be a change in strategy. Terrorism has altered over recent months and sadly it’s going to afflict us for some time to come. The Islamic State (IS ) call is for attacks on the West in all its facets, and no country is off-limits.

However, the strategy has to be thought through and be multi-faceted. It’s not simply about berating internet providers. For sure, there’s action needed and for the police to have access, but it must be proportionate, as well as democratically overseen and judicially scrutinised.

The existing strategy of Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare actually has logic and aspects that have worked well, though others haven’t. It needs to be reviewed and improved. Some of that has been visibly ongoing as concrete blocks are placed on bridges in London. We’ll just need to get used to some architectural landscaping changing, as with more armed policing.

The Prevent strategy has failed. However, some version of it is still needed. Efforts need made to stem further recruits to the terrorist cause, as much as pursuing current members. Lessons need to be learned and an improved scheme is a must.

But for some, nothing will deter them. Sadly, there’s a number of people out there who want to perpetrate terror and are capable of it. Internment was an unmitigated disaster in Northern Ireland and there may well have been failures by the security services here. However, if they’ve not done anything criminal, it’s hard to detain them for their thoughts. Control orders and supervision have been problematic and it’s hard in a democracy to countenance them.

In preserving our society, we don’t want to undermine the values underpinning it. But the threat is in our midst and most are UK citizens who can’t be deported. They may need reintroduced, though, with suitable judicial safeguards. It’s something the next Parliament is going to have to debate.