Not Our Sort of People Just Yet

Five Syrian terror organisations, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, are to be proscribed in Britain for the crime of doing slightly less damage to Iraq than George W Bush and the Reverend Poodle. Although it is thought that ISIS, like his reverence, benefits from a special relationship with Saudi Arabia, the organisation does not yet have sufficient funds to qualify for official residence in the United Kingdom. The Government is also eager to send a message of disapprobation to those terrorist organisations which commit mayhem and murder while failing to take British interests properly into account. "Proscription is a useful weapon in the armoury at the disposal of the government, police and security services to disrupt terrorist activity and protect the UK," babbled a Home Office flunkey who must be rather glad to be talking about something other than passports. Given the other important demands on their arsenal, it is to be hoped that the Government, police and security services will find time to take all due advantage.