“Explosions and gunfire could be heard ringing out from Britain’s second busiest shopping centre this morning in one of the biggest counter terrorism training exercises to ever take place on these shores.” from todays Daily Mail headline, but all over tha papers and news.

Its curious this very public and huge test comes right direct on the tail of a couple of days of politicians comments all over the media on how security would be lax after Brexit and that Europe will descend into war without the UK presence.

I wonder, given the Trafford event must have required some kind of permission, if the politicians are jumping on the bandwagon of fear here, timing their war and security comments immediately before this public test with fake blood soaked actors?

Its very exploitive and manipulative of the public if so – both if you want to Brexit or Remain.

I wish in general that the politicians would stop treating the population like morons and show some respect to the public, their employers. Do they really think people are too thick to notice the timing of the political statements & the exercise?

Or it’s just coincidence.

Given that the leave campaign has as one of it’s central pillars the ‘fact’ that our open borders are letting in everyone from plumbers to suicide bombers and that this is a security risk, seems odd to blame the coincidence on the remain campaign.

Its curious this very public and huge test comes right direct on the tail of a couple of days of politicians comments all over the media on how security would be lax after Brexit and that Europe will descend into war without the UK presence.

confirmation bias.

Its the timing of it all, plus the mass of photos released of ‘blood; soacked people, which look like ‘official photographs’ by a pro photographer to me.

Only during the last couple of days has there been such high MP comments that Europe will soon be at war (due to Brexit) which have been added into the recent rise in ‘Europe = better terrorist security” line.

Its the precise timing directly reinforcing the Europe at war politician comments and what seem official photos at an event.

This exercise could have been fully reported without images.

The photos are clearly intended to promote public fear and should not have been released.

The images released are an absolute gift to terrorists of any kind.

The timing, the intentional mass release of distressing images, the political fear raising about conflict of the last few days…. the politicians and/or organisers of this training event are clearly politically manipulative or just stupid.

confirmation bias.

Or perhaps realistic enough to see a possible reality.

Both the political statements and the exercise could have fallen on any non consecutive days of the year, any gap in 365. Even just a week apart.

But they did not. One was immediately after the other.

What should have been a discreet exercise is everywhere in official photos.

Photos that effectively support terrorism and undermine public confidence. why would anyone think it good for the UK to release them?

How do you know it was meant to be a discrete exercise?
Anything on that scale is going to be fairly noticeable. From a quick glance the police allowed the media in for a bit before carrying on without them.

By discreet I do not mean unreported, but the very high profile reporting and the images released are to me more negative than positive. Best reported without images of blood soaked fear filled ‘shoppers’.

I cannot see why the photographic media needed to be brought in -other than someones ego or political ends over-rode the sad situation of promoting fear among the UK population, and it has caused fear, just look at the Daily Mail comment section.

Does this help fight terrorism or promote it? It screams ‘hey look at the impact you could have by doing this for real’.

Midnighthour – Member

This exercise could have been fully reported without images.

Yeah, but why would they want to do that?

Terror and disaster exercises are fairly common, I think this is the first really big one this year but I remember there was a big terrorist shooting one in London last year, and a tube evacuation earlier this year, it’s just something the services do.

I’d say it’s possible that the Brexit campaign looked at the news and went “there’s a terrorism exercise next week, let’s talk about terrorism” though. But then if they’d done it last week or this week you could say the same.

By discreet I do not mean unreported, but the very high profile reporting and the images released are to me more negative than positive. Best reported without images of blood soaked fear filled ‘shoppers’.

So the Daily Mail are publishing scary photos, to scare Daily Mail readers (plus ca change). And that’s the government’s fault?

These events happen all the time. IF Anti-EU newspapers show photos of them, what’s that got to do with the pro-EU campaign? Unless the DM is a deep cover pro-diversity/human rights/integration/immigration publication.

The leave campaign say leaving the EU is better for security
https://leave.eu/en/news/2016-03-23/now-is-the-time-to-discuss-how-the-eu-endangers-our-security-says-arron-banks

The remain campaign say staying in the EU is better for security.
http://www.strongerin.co.uk/security#Jj7Sup

If there’s conspiracy, it’s very badly organised.

I wish in general that the politicians would stop treating the population like morons and show some respect to the public, their employers.

Most of the population ARE morons; it’s the Daily Mail and Sun reading morons who will vote out because they are ignorant racists.

There’s an awful lot of these coincidences…

A drill planned on the same day as Charlie Hebdo Attacks:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iebVWcVn2PU[/video]

Another on 7/7:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKvkhe3rqtc[/video]

Not sure if the NORAD exercises on 9/11 account for the lack of jets to intercept the planes:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6crfATz6PI[/video]

Of course, that’s not to say that such matters have any bearing on this case, but it’s reasonable to question them:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu8CCJTJCQk[/video]

What concerns most, is not that the emergency services and military have had an exercise in an attempt to brush up on their techniques.
My concern is that correspondents of this site are reading the Daily Wail to keep abreast of the news.

Thanks for the heads up, I wouldn’t have heard about it otherwise. Was it only the Daily Fail who ran with it?

But… which campaign could draw anything from it?

I didn’t know about the tests. But i did know that the remain camp are saying we should stay for security reasons.

But we get the Guardian

Which papers ran with the photos?

Surely both camps had equal chance to spin this story

Photos that effectively support terrorism

What does that mea?

Police have apologised after the actors playing the terrorists shouted alu akbar – political correctness gone mad

Most of the population ARE morons; it’s the Daily Mail and Sun reading morons who will vote out because they are ignorant racists.

Don’t forget the Express…..

Police have apologised after the actors playing the terrorists shouted alu akbar – political correctness gone mad

My God, I actually agree with something Donald TrumpJambalala said….

Knowing what I know about GMP and this had probably been in the planning for close to 12 months. doubt it was planned to coincide with Brexit vote

alu akbar

We all know they should be shouting ‘Aloha Snackbar’ instead. Madness.

The exercise will have taken weeks or months to plan and organise so timing will be coincidental.

Cameras will have been there as the police and authorities are trying to stop the public worrying that we can’t deal with this sort of attack and they want to show they are training in the best way possible using the most realistic techniques.

Have a look at the footage of them practicing for a marauding terrorist in London, it’s the same scenario, realistic injuries, realistic behaviours and practicing aggressive military style tactics that the armed police are not used to implementing.

political scaremongering on the eve of Brexit….i cant see the relevance of getting one of the supposed attackers to shout Allah-u-Akbar…unless theyre trying to stir up even more islamophobia

Police have apologised after the actors playing the terrorists shouted alu akbar – political correctness gone mad

should they not have?
or is it because all terrorists shout this out regardless of who they are?

as far as i can recall…the last time manchester got hit by terrorism was by a bunch of white guys who followed the bible

the use of that phrase in that exercise was wholly inappropriate and someone should have their slats hoofed

These happen a lot more than you may think just not always in such public places. I’ve no why idea anyone would associate it with the EU vote.

the use of that phrase in that exercise was wholly inappropriate and someone should have their slats hoofed

Why was it inappropriate? The scenario was a Daesh themed extremist carrying out a suicide attack, it is what they would shout and it is part of the scenario.

I understand that a suicide bomber could in fact be from any culture or background but not sure we should be taking offence at what is part of a scenario.

I’ve no why idea anyone would associate it with the EU vote.

Quite news day, Ken Livingstone hasn’t mentioned Hitler once yet…

Just one from last year but without the dramatics of the Daily Mail.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33315691

If its going to happen then odds are that’ll get shouted, its not angry nuns we are worried about is it!

But yes I agree, twas bloody daft of them.

If its going to happen then odds are that’ll get shouted, its not angry nuns we are worried about is it!

Wandering shooters in this country of recent years haven’t shouted that.

Jeez, these exercises take months of planning, this wasn’t done to fit in with the referendum. Given that both sides of the argument could spin it if they wanted, this has to be one of the daftest conspiracy threads to grace these pages.

And given the regular use of suicide attacks by dissident Irish repulicans, struggling to get upset by the Islamist acting either.

Why was it inappropriate? The scenario was a Daesh themed extremist carrying out a suicide attack, it is what they would shout and it is part of the scenario.

I understand that a suicide bomber could in fact be from any culture or background but not sure we should be taking offence at what is part of a scenario.

why was it necessary that the attack had to be staged as a deash attack?
like you said a terrorist can be anyone and if the exercise was in fact to test the responses of the emergency services (as GMP have stated), why stereotype it as an attack from a particular group by using that phrase?

theyre saying that the exercise isnt linked to any specific terror threat yet by using that phrase they have directly linked it to a specific group…now all this is going to do is feed the bullshit propaganda of the extremists who will now use it to their advantage…so i’m sorry to say but it was inappropriate.

just look at the Daily Mail comment section.

That’s your problem, right there.

why was it necessary that the attack had to be staged as a deash attack?

They never are. They always use unidentifide terriosts or unidentifide gun men.

They never are. They always use unidentifide terriosts or unidentifide gun men.

as they should have in this exercise but instead:

In a statement released by GMP, assistant chief constable Garry Shewan said: “It is a necessity for agencies including the police to train and prepare using exercises such as this, so that we would be in the best possible position to respond in the event that the unthinkable happened and an attack took place.
“The scenario for this exercise is based on an attack by an extremist Daesh-style organisation and the scenario writers have centred the circumstances around previous similar attacks of this nature, mirroring details of past events to make the situation as real life as possible for all of those involved.
“However, on reflection we acknowledge that it was unacceptable to use this religious phrase immediately before the mock suicide bombing, which so vocally linked this exercise with Islam. We recognise and apologise for the offence that this has caused.”

bloody idiots!!

I concur why even use that term?

I concur why even use that term?

foolish stereotyping…to pander to what the medias portrayal of what a terrorist should look/act like

as far as i can recall…the last time manchester got hit by terrorism was by a bunch of white guys who followed the bible

Car bomb, and anonymous call to 999 to tip them off. An entirely different MO.

why was it necessary that the attack had to be staged as a deash attack?
like you said a terrorist can be anyone and if the exercise was in fact to test the responses of the emergency services (as GMP have stated), why stereotype it as an attack from a particular group by using that phrase?

It was a bit stupid of them, but, when was the last suicide bomber in the UK that didn’t shout that?

Would people react differently to that phrase rather than “2 pints of Guinness and some potato cakes please?”.

Pretty sure I’d turn and run if someone shouted that in a crowded public space, in which case is it useful for modeling the behavior of crowds in an attack?

Not PC gone mad, but it is being PC to say they shouldn’t closely mimic recent suicide bombings in the UK and the EU.

thisisnotaspoon – Member

It was a bit stupid of them, but, when was the last suicide bomber in the UK that didn’t shout that?

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think there’s only ever been a single UK suicide bombing attack- the 4 London bombers? Not clear if any of them shouted it.