Would Winston Churchill have bombed the Islamic State? Well, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever really find out an answer to that question but, according to the man who has written a new book about Britain’s wartime leader, he most certainly would.
Boris has used an interview to promote his new book The Churchill Factor – presumably not a guide to cheaper car insurance – to claim that the security sources in the UK are monitoring ‘thousands’ of terror suspects and that the ex-PM would have taken ‘personal charge’ of the situation.
“Let’s ask ourselves this question: would Churchill now be authorizing air strikes on Isil? I think he would be. He was a great believer in air power,” claimed Bozza. “I think he would be appalled by the spectacle of these cowards executing journalists, and I think he would have wanted to do something to set them back a long way, and if need be, to neutralize them altogether.
“He was a great believer in air power – don’t forget he invented the RAF…so I think he’d do exactly what the Prime Minister is doing.â€
The Mayor also used the interview to reveal that the number of potential terrorists being monitored by Google the security services is in the thousands – far more than had originally been thought. He said: “In London we’re very very vigilant and very very concerned. Every day – as you saw recently, we had to raise the threat level – every day the security services are involved in thousands of operations.
“There are probably in the low thousands of people that we are monitoring in London.â€
So what would old Winston have done if he’d discovered an Islamic State person plotting in London. We’ll he’d have gone down and had a jolly stiff word, according to Boris.
Citing the example of the Sidney Street siege in 1911, when police became involved in a gunfight with a group of anarchists, he said: “If you look at his handling of the Sidney Street siege…Churchill goes down there personally.
“He would have taken personal charge of counter-terror in London, no question. Had he been Home Secretary now, he would be absolutely appalled to think that these people could be carrying British passports and yet be loyal to another state.â€
Perhaps that’s what we need, Bozza? Pop round and give them a piece of your mind, eh?