h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"A FORMER British National Party member has been arrested after police found bomb-making equipment at his house."

(from http://www.burnleycitizen.co.uk/news/newsheadlines/display.var.947927.0.exbnp_man_held_in_bomb_swoop.php)

"The haul is thought to be the largest ever found at a house in this country."

(from http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=420965)

What do forumites think about this story? And what do we think about the fact that it hasn't made the national news?

Okay, it's an obvious and cheap question, but do we suppose that it would have made the national (and international) news if Mr. Cottage were Mr. el-Affendhi?

Think we all know the answer to that....

Clearly nobody is very interested in this story, so I guess the newspapers got it right. I'm curious though - why does nobody find this interesting? For people who are afraid of terrorism - aren't you angry that the newspapers aren't reporting the largest ever haul of bombs and bomb making equipment in a single house in the country? If not, why not?

I think the important story that should be being covered is the story of the lack of interest and the implications of that lack of interest (white terrorists aren't anything to panic about, is one of the implications).

Personally, I think the whole terrorism thing is such a non-issue -- it's like people think that it was somehow okay to blow things up before 'anti-terror' legislation was passed. Sorry, in most jurisdictions it has always been illegal to blow things up and it's been illegal to conspire to blow things up.

the point is that it makes more news if the suspected terrorist is an Islamic extremist rather than a former BNP member. If terrorism really is such a non-issue then shouldn't all terrorist be given the same amount of publicity (ie none).

Maybe it's a case of once bitten...?
Maybe if the people have actually already been charged, there's a limited amount that could legally be said (though that presumably doesn't stop some basic comment being made)?
Maybe there's no-one related to the people involved and/or their lawyers kicking up a fuss over their detention?

I guess if one or other person had been shot, or if BNP-related people had previously set off bombs resulting in a serious loss of life, it could be a somewhat larger story.

Just out of interest, what *is* the largest-ever haul of bomb-making materials *found at a house* in this country?

I think they should cover the lack of interest in the lack of interest, and when that flops, do a story on the lack of interest in the lack of interest in the lack of interest, and when that gets no attention, do a story about a man who married his horse.

Potholer, not entirely sure I understand the last question, but it's difficult to get information because there are only two or three news reports about it. I know that a rocket launcher was involved. Also, two more links that might be of interest (neonazi nail bombing in Brixton 1999 and more bomb related BNP stuff in July this year):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Copeland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/5151178.stm

who was that

Thing is, the odd loner is actually rather less newsworthy than some supposed large organised plot - once the police swoop, the story is basically over -no ongoing search for others where media coverage may possibly be useful.

The nail bombings in London (Admiral Duncan, etc) are a case in point.
One person with some loose political leanings *and* some personal prejudices, who acts on the latter and ends up basically being remembered as a homophobic nobody with a screw loose.
Once he was caught, was there really much reporting done?

In the case of the recent failed London bombings, I'm not sure how much *they* were reported once arrests and charges had happened?

Regarding the claims of 'largest amount of bomb-making material found in a house', I have no idea what the previous largest amount was. Off the top of my head, I don't recall a great many raids actually finding anything, and relative quantities may be relatively unimportant anyway (doesn't necessarily make the story any bigger, especially if the actual quantity hasn't been disclosed).

Since one guy *has* actually been charged, the media may be seriously limited in what they can say now, possibly to the point where they may as well wait for a trial and have a fresh story to run with.

TO be honest, I read this thread, was interested, but didn't really have anything to add. Everything had been said. Ergo, lurk.

"Thing is, the odd loner is actually rather less newsworthy than some supposed large organised plot - once the police swoop, the story is basically over -no ongoing search for others where media coverage may possibly be useful."

A huge haul of explosives and weapons, though? That doesn't sound like a loner to me?

"The nail bombings in London (Admiral Duncan, etc) are a case in point.
One person with some loose political leanings *and* some personal prejudices, who acts on the latter and ends up basically being remembered as a homophobic nobody with a screw loose.
Once he was caught, was there really much reporting done?"

There was. And it brought-home the genuine threat of neo-nazi terrorism. It's been more of a problem in the USA of late than here, mind, but still a problem.

I'm surprised this didn't make more news but it's possibly because any potential plot was foiled.

Good god! Zagreb jumping to my defence! What's going on?

Bouncy - fair enough.

>>"A huge haul of explosives and weapons, though? That doesn't sound like a loner to me?"

It depends how large it actually *is*.
'Larger than some unspecified size' could cover a range of possible sizes.

>> >>"Once he was caught, was there really much reporting done?"

>>"There was. And it brought-home the genuine threat of neo-nazi terrorism. It's been more of a problem in the USA of late than here, mind, but still a problem."

But was there much reporting between him being *arrested and charged* and the trial?
In the current case, it wouldn't appear there was much of a window between raid, arrest and charges, and there wasn't any period of fear following actual explosions for the press to report or speculate in.

In the current case, it's possible the police don't think there are other people involved.
It's possible they have had a quiet word with the media to suggest they soft-pedal on the story for now for whatever reason.

Some interesting stuff on this has appeared today.

http://leninology.blogspot.com/2006/10/bbc-on-unreported-fascist-bomb-factory.html
http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/828

The BBC responded by saying:

"I have investigated how the story was missed. It appears a reporter from BBC Radio Lancashire investigated initial reports but the police "played it down". Our regional televison centre in in Manchester found out about the story only after it was reported in the Colne Times. By this time it was several days old. On investigation they discovered that reporting restrictions were in place which severely curtailed what could be said by the media."

Which raises the questions: why are the police playing it down when they make such a big fuss over (for example) the Forest Gate raid? Why do the BBC just accept it that they won't go further with a story if the police are playing it down?

Anyway, we might find out more on Oct 23rd:

"Two arrested men are due to appear at Blackburn Crown Court on October 23rd, BBC TV News will attend the hearing."

*Did* the police make a fuss over the Forest Gate raid, or was it the media making the running, which they could do since no-one had been charged?

Well there were a number of police and government press conferences and releases, an enormous number of officers involved in the actual raid, etc.

Numbers involved on a raid do rather depend how much uncertainty there is, how many different specialists they think they might need, etc.

Because the press *could* report about Forest Gate, since no-one had been charged, there was possibly some point in trying to give them information rather than leave them guessing or responding to rumour (even though it would seem there may have been some official rumour-spreading going on reagarding what it had been expected might be found.
When someone has been charged, there's no point, and possibly even little posssibility, of having any menaingful police statements.

It would seem that in addition to legal reporting restrictions in the current case, there are no loudly protesting relatives, there's no identifiable 'community' around waiting to be whipped up into a frenzy by some or other rentagob, etc, and there's no big argument (yet?) about whether anything worthwhile was found on the raid, which rather dampens the story down.