Recently at LIverpool airport my husband and I were spoken to extremely rudely by a member of the security personnel, a woman with an Eastern European accent. My tubes of skin cream which I need for eczema and dry skin (and which I have to carry in hand luggage) were taken out of their plastic bag and spread over a table (I suppose I should have been grateful that I was not spread over the table) while another uniformed windowlicker wrote down what they were. All this in addition to the queueing and shoe-removing. By the time we made it through to the departure lounge I was in tears and wanted a gin-and-tonic; I normally don't drink. And the ordeal of queueing to board the aircraft was yet to come.

I don't know how long the government thinks people are going to keep on putting up with this kind of treatment. I travel a lot less because of it. Now it seems boat and train travel is set to become as intolerable as flying. The terrorists have won.

Stephanie, Southport,

And still the most dangerous aspect of flying, is driving to the airport. When will they label the motor industry members of the axis of evil? According to the Department for Transport, some 3,000 people were killed in the 12 months to March this year. That's 21,000'ish traffic deaths since 9/11. Beware the mad mota.

Kevin, Holland

Kevin Haynes, Utrecht, Holland

The stupidity of the authorities is quite breathtaking. None of what is being proposed could or would make one iota of difference to our security. But it is turning Britain into a very unpleasant police state. Thank goodness Al Qaeda seems to have lost the ability to attract talent. If their more recent operatives are indicative of the current recruitment standard then we have little to worry about.

David Jenkins, Weybridge, UK

Finally Brown has revealed his vision for this country: it's one of fear, control, and repression.

Ian, London,

We came back from France by Brittany Ferries at the end of August and arrived on time in Poole Harbour. We were still in our car on the Ferry forty five minutes after docking. With our two grand-children it took us over an hour and a quarter to get out of the docks; meanwhile the boat was delayed in sailing to France. A somewhat embarrased Immigration Offiecr explained that passports had to be scanned in case of illegal immigrants (Stable door and bolted spring to mind). By all means do this but why not do it on the boat or plane to minimise inconvenience. Cherbourg to Poole is over four hours. Have Immigration Officers on the Ferries with lap tops and scanners and carry out the checks on board issuing receipts or whatever that can be simply handed in upon arrival. It's not exactly rocket science but, there again, we're dealing with a Labour Government.

Derek, Brsitol, England

At last someone has said what is blatantly obvious if a terrorist wanted to bring a country to its knees. All this paranoia from Brown about tightening up security at train stations is yet another sick joke that will only switch genuine terrorist to the many softer targets but nonetheless very effective ones. The sad part about this bankrupt government is that they seem to believe they are doing something effective about terrorism and that they believe the public backs them. Any wannabe terrorist would forget the hard targets like airports or soon to be train stations, and go for water reservoirs, power stations, food distribution, financial institutions, local authorities or government offices. None of these could be realistically protected and the terrorist know that but this government apparently doesn't or is unwilling to admit that they can't protect them. With or without new acts of terrorism the score remains Terrorists 1 and Labour Government 0 and still they are in denial.

Mike, Alicante, Spain

The whole security issue has become a joke - the one bag thru security is the biggest laugh - "2 bags sir? Ok, sir please take the laptop out of its bag & place the laptop case inside the suitcase".....wha!? Im sorry !?! How's that adding to the security .. I've even heard of an example where a security official took two bags & taped them together with masking tape & said to the rather confused traveller "there you go sir, 1 bag.."

One wonders what security measures the duty free shops hve to take - if I were a terrorist I would be getting my bombs delivered to duty free & then taking pot luck with which airline i blew up.. with er.....my.....um..... ahem, my bottle of water... ok, yes, ill admit there is a slight flaw in my plan...

On the upside I dont live in the UK & wont have to worry abt my rail comute going fm 1h to 5h bcos an illegal immigrant cleared for security work wants to do my crossword or read my diary.. oh wait, thats an upside for me not you, sorry.

Zugerman, Zurich, Switzerland

Searching bags at railway stations.....he's lost his marbles or perhaps he hasn't seen a train for a long time.

Victor M., Malaga, Spain

When Mr. McGuiness ran British terrorism we led the world. Maggie Thatcher was pulled from the rubble with her knickers round her ankles. John Major's Cabinet came under mortar attack. The Talk of the Town. Regents Park. Harrods. We still went to work.

I was horrified to read of the diabetic fellow who collapsed at a bus station in Leeds and was tasered by Police as a "terrorist threat". How threatening is an unconscious person?

They don't pay the Police to attack the unwell in Brussels, which is good for me because I'm diabetic too. Frankfurt was also OK in my experience, but I'd never fly American Airlines. US airline employees have kept people on delayed planes for up to 11 hours, against their will, until diabetics on board have gone hypo and lost consciousness. For the little Jack Bauers it's just an excuse to shout "Acceptable collateral damage!"

Playing self-aggrandizing childish games with people's lives. Grow up.

Alan Carter, Brussels, Belgium

All a bit too late.

The enemy is inside the gate and the Government is so frozen by political correctness and finacial dependency upon Islamic donors that they can only respond by imposing restrictions upon all of us.

The Islamists have won, we are under seige.

And Labour with its ranks of neo Marxists is to blame!!

Thank God I got out when I did.

Geoff M, Brittany, France

Being British I feel it is my civic duty to post a comment on a website deploring this state of affairs, but not to bother to march in the streets, or even bother to write to my MP about it.

All the time we just complain about it the government will continue to advance the police state, Its time to organise a mass protest.

I would do it, but I can't really be bothered. To be honest I probably won't even show up at the march, I've got better things to do than stand in the cold, but good luck with it!

Robert McGuiness, London,

I have no doubt at all that the final paragraph of this excellent article contains the truth - we are being governed in an unspeakably shameful way. There seems little doubt that Gordon Brown's "security initiative" was sparked by poll ratings rather than security developments or that he was trying, desperately to wrong-foot the Opposition over detention without charge. The comments of Lord Carlile, begging the Government not to start "a spat" over the issue, were very telling.

James Elliott, Eastbourne, UK

Well Janice

You obviously resent all the extra security that we have in place. Think about this, for decades we had what the French call "Lessaiz-faire" attitudes towards Citizenship, Religion, Freedom of Speech etc, etc.

We did the crime!, we do the time!

The next time you're in a queue at the Airport waiting for your security checks, just remember your sacrifice is a way of allowing our great country to perpetuate the freedom of its citizens do as they please!

We rubber stamped the handing out of work permits to Imams who didn't speak a word of English, people who seemed to have noting but contempt for Christianity and allowed them to poison the minds of young muslims.

We even gave them Tax Relief because every Religious Institution is classed as a Charity, what a joke.

I am British, I have the right to ask for everything! but answer to no one! I will burn the Union flag when angry but rely on my passport whenever I travel!

I am British!

Graham, St Albans, uk

Ms Turner; I used to post on the BBC Today message boards before they became totally censored. I made the same point in my posts about potential terrorist targets...if I were a terrorist, I wouldn`t target tube trains and red buses...no, I`d do Harrods, or the packed lobby of Claridges....maybe a busy A&E department....just think about the loss of all those skilled people?

Of couse, my none rule breaking posts on the BBC Today message boards were censored by the Dark Forces....I wonder why?lol

This is problem Janice, the War on Terror is a US/UK/Israeli construct...there were NO Muslim bombers on 7/7...you, and most of the public just think there were. There is plenty of hard evidence to point the finger at the state....or should I say, "cells" within the SIS and there`s much evidence to believe there were NO Muslim bombers on 7/7!

Take a look at todays Times page 8.lol

Seek and you will find the truth, well, something near it.lol

Carl Jones, London, UK

Sounds like Gordon Brown wants to turn London and the UK into Tashkent, with ID cards, the requirement to register with the local police, the check points staffed by gun-toting Militsia, the searches etc.

Eric Murphy, London, UK

Yes, Ian from Toronto, the wisest reaction is to do nothing. So far Muslim terrorists have killed fewer than 100 people in the UK, in one or two relatively small attacks. Politicians quacking about "the greatest threat this nation has ever faced" insult the memory of those who lived through the Blitz (which destroyed 2 million houses and killed 100,000 people), the thermonuclear Cold War, and even the IRA's bombing campaign.
In any case, there is no practical defence. Modern civilisation is intrinsically vulnerable to intelligent attackers. The only constructive thing our politicians could do is to stop killing people abroad - over 1 million in Iraq so far, and many many thousands of others all over the Near and Middle East, North Africa, Central and South America, and of course South-East Asia (about 3 million there). Most of the terrorists we fear so much are like the animal in the French proverb - "this animal is very dangerous: when you attack it, it defends itself".

Tom Welsh, Basingstoke,

The existing security arrangements are bad enough and largely pointless. If you do some research you will find that there is no practical, two part liquid explosive. The two liquids need to be mixed slowly for two hours whilst being chilled, so impossible to do on a plane without arousing suspicion and definately no use to attack short haul flights. The terrorists don't even need to commit a real act to cause panic, all that is needed is for a few fantasists to be caught planning something impractical and a new layer of oppresive security is brought in.

Tony Gosling, London,

I was born in a dictatorship, now it seems we are all heading into a bigger, more ferasome one.

jondi saka, London,

As others have mentioned, the anti-terror measures are easily circumvented. Board a commuter train at a minor station and detonate your rucksack bomb as the train arrives at London Waterloo. Or walk to Waterloo, get yourself in the middle of the throng waiting to have their bags checked, and then blow yourself up.

What will Brown do then? Have us all file travel plans for official approval before we're allowed to leave our own homes?

I guess in reality these ineffective security measures are just the product of Brown's ineffective mind. Labour have form for making bold announcements that the average person in the street can shoot down in seconds.

Mike, Brighton, England

I agree 100% with this article. I fly through Heathrow regularly and it has been getting steadily more depressing, stupid and inconvenient. I would happily vote for any politician who promised to reduce security.
What makes it even more depressing is that I know perfectly well that even if they had no screening at all I would still be more at risk from the traffic at the other end than from being blown up on the plane.
All this security is government flapping to prove they are doing something. If they really, truly, just cared about saving British lives they could invest the money more effectively in the NHS. If they just cared about saving lives, they could do better by giving just a fraction to the World Food Programme.

Rowan, Oxford,

The whole security zeal is a bad joke. There will always be easy ways to blow up a crowd, so these measures serve no useful purpose for ordinary people. So what purposes do they serve?

1) They can be used to scare people into accepting the withdrawal of traditional British liberties.
2) They are an attempt to scare people into voting for warmongers.
3) They protect the warmongers in their bunkers, who are kept save from the consequences of their policy mistakes, leaving all the risk to be borne by the innocent.
4) They provide jobs for unproductive securocrats, who form a pool of donors and voters loyal to the warmongers.
5) They give nasty abusive characters a licence to mistreat innocent people (see Pierre's post).

None of these reasons help to make the country the sort of place I want to live in.

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

Brown does not tackle the real problem directly - Islamic terrorism and the spread of fundamentalism - by such actions as removing the hate and violence inducing literature that exists in 25% of the Mosques in the UK.

He prefers to make everyone suffer by making Britain a fortress!

David Cartright, UK/US,

Brown does not tackle the real problem directly - Islamic terrorism and the spread of fundamentalism - by such actions as removing the hate and violence inducing literature that exists in 25% of the Mosques in the UK. That might offend someone.

He prefers to make everyone suffer by making Britain a fortress!

David Cartright, UK/US,

I moved to Montreal three years ago, and on my annual return trip on business I am amazed at just how much worse it has become in the UK, especially London, in that period. The "security" process at Heathrow and Gatwick is abysmal - slow, pointless and frustrating, and if checks areto be introduced everywhere travel to and within the UK seems pointless. It will deter many people from coming to the UK - which is already suffering as everything, yes everything, is double the price we pay in Canada. And the Canadian dollar is on a high, unlike the US.

peter smith, Montreal, Canada

Excellent article - says it all, really. "Forced through... security... before we even entered the airport." Yes, that's already the case at Manila in the Philippines (and no doubt many other places). Your friends and family can't come in at all to wait with you and see you off, in fact if they drop you off by car they literally have two minutes to unload your bags, say goodbye to you and clear off. Nice way to end your holiday.

Barry, Wallington, UK

I could not agree more with your writer. The ridiculous of the situation is beyond wordsThe whole security apparatus and the manner in which it is being enforced in London(I do not know outside of London) is a very sad and worrying "joke". Joke it certainly is not.While waiting for a relative on the Eurostar train platform this summer I was most sharply approached and summarily asked by a police officer as to why I was standing where I was.He put forward that I had been observed via the security cameras standing on the platform(for some good reason I would say)for over 10 minutes.It was a most unpleasant(I MEAN UNPLEASANT) incident that lasted some 15 minutes before the officer and re-inforcement backed-off without an apology. All in the name of my safety? I am over my mid-fifties, bold white professional and all of this in the middle of the afternoon on a deserted platform.I was visiting the UK and London at the time.I lived in the UK for over 25 years.I am in no hurry to return....

Pierre LAMAZIERE, Beijing, China

When you Brits waltzed into Iran and arrested their PM all those years ago , at the behest of the Oil Companies , and put their puppet Shah there to do their bidding , seems some one has rendered the bill . So pay it honey , surely not that tough is it for all those years of cheap petrol ?.

John Rutter, Ubon, Thailand

Let's say that there are baggage checks at Waterloo. Wouldn't a terrorist then just board a train at a minor country station and carry his bomb on the inbound train? Utter stupidty. Gesture politics if you're feeling generous, or creeping totalitarianism if you're not. Either way it will be a massive inconvenience and cost for no benefit.

Redcliffe, London,

Fortress Britain is going to be a futile attempt to tighten up security. Unless the enemies within - "liberal" eliites (consists of minority-appeasing politicians, out-of-touch senior civil servants, leniant judges, PC brigades at town halls and police stations, money-grabbing immigration lawyers, biased journalist, do-gooder social acitivists) are cleared out, nothing will be achieved.

James Wong, Macau,

Fascinating! At look at all the security measures we took when the IRA were blowing us up. We certainly iintroduced tough passport controls between the UK and the Irish Republic! Actually this will be a real stumbling block when Nanny Brown tries to control all movement in and out of the UK.

Martin, London

Martin, London,

Taking all these steps just tells the terrorists they are winning.If we carried on as normal and did nothing they would give up because of lack of effect. All this fortress britain rubbish achieves is distrust of muslims and the inevitable violence against them.
I didnt fear Irish terror attacks and will not fear islamic ones but I will curse Gordons obsession with laws destroying my libertys.If he is scared then he should run off home to scotland and hide we are made of sterner stuff.

mitch, wolverhampton, England

There will soon be no need for railway security. Permits for internal travel in the UK will only be available from your Nulabour gauleiter.

Colin Soames, Londonistan,

I've lost count of the number of articles, in "The Times" as elsewhere, on this and similar themes (see also Matthew Parris in today's paper). Our Human Rights are being daily violated.

The moaning and breast-beating have got to stop, to be replaced by action. Who will rid us of this obnoxious State of Affairs ? Certainly not the Government (or the Opposition).

Terry Dell, Weybridge, UK

I have had enough of the whole system... I have moved to Lapland...(Former London Lad)

Jim, Oulu, Finland

The only people who are really protected are the politicians and ex politicians who have their own private security-paid for at our expense.

Everything else is an elaborate sham organised by the very people who lead us into this mess in the first place. They are creating a massive surveillance /security industry, which serves very little purpose except to employ lots of people and gradually replace our rapidly disappearing manufacturing industry.

Allan, liss, Surrey

The creeping police state that is described is the direct result of Britain's old fashioned neo-colonial belief that it has to be at the centre of sorting out perceived problems in other countries - where such interference is largely unwelcome. The Government's priority should be to reverse the depressing breakdown of social fabric in the UK itself. Perhaps then the UK would not find itself a (perceived or actual) target for extremism and UK citizens could look forward to living in a civilised society. It may suit the Government to continue to distract the public from the domestic chaos and flawed foreign policy over which it has presided for the last decade by emphasising the terror threat, but the reality is that most Britons would prefer to live in a society where their Government's actions do not invite reprisal by means of acts of violence. Unfortunately,Tony Blair's terrible legacy lives on - and the nation will suffer for it until someone comes to their senses.

Andrew, Edinburgh,

Excellent article - required reading. But it ends a paragraph too soon. This "unspeakable shame" has already occured and has been blindly accepted by far too many.

Who's going to do something about it?

JK, London, UK

Janice- all this has nothing to do with security - it is all a big hoopla to cover the Labour party push for internment. We - the British people - are now subjected to the same level of surveillance as citizens of China and Russia. The Civil service and the police are now largely dominated by partisan labour politicos. Ask yourself - why? Unless you are a totally unquestioning and politically correct Labour voter be very, very afraid of where this is all heading.

Doug, Glasgow,

If you can't have a more intelligent headline than PM in a flap then get another job. Could you also try presenting a solution or is it just do nothing? Perhaps we should forget about planning to reduce the risks. that can be reduced Or equally, lets not try to find lawful and balanced ways of keeping behind bars those that could not immediately be caught after committing mass murder.

It is utter nonesense to tag the UK Government with wanting to keep people in fear. They did not blow up buses and tubes or fly planes into the WTC, nor do they kill women for not wearing a vail. That is a truly grosteque.

Ian, Toronto, Canada

Not just England I fear. During my latest airport security check at Frankfurt, an American Airlines agent opened my bag and emptied its contents in front of everyone, proceeding to read my journal and thoroughly investigate the (written, not just physical) contents of the books and printouts I was carrying with me. I'm desparately trying to find a country away from it all... Iceland maybe?

airport victim, Cambridge, USA