Yes. Especially if you're sitting next to Hasib Hussein on the No. 30 bus, but in the grand scheme of things; no. Terrorism does not pose an existential threat to this country, or our way of life. There simply aren't enough suicidal maniacs, even if the bombers always got through. And they don't always get through. Our security services aren't actually that bad at stopping the bad guys. As a result, your chances of being killed by a terrorist are vanishingly small - roughly equivalent to the number of deaths involving trousers in any given year. Certainly lower than the chances of being killed by a stray motorist on your way to work.

Terrorism simply isn't a risk we need get worked up about. The Government's response, however does pose an existential threat to the way of life in the UK. I characterise their current approach at once strengthening the law by removing civil liberties and making illegal a number of preparatory stages of terrorism, and secondly appeasement of demands from the community from which the current terrorist threat comes. Both of these approaches are spectacularly wrong-headed.

This is exemplified by the Laws increasing the length of time a suspect can be held without trial, allowing the police to bang up extremist Muslims more or less on a whim. Control orders and extra-judicial extradition mean that sanctions can be brought to bear onto people who have not been convicted of an offence in Law. Hyperactive policing is an attempt to make the public feel safer, without addressing the issue at source. The appeasement strand of the Government's policy is the "incitement to religious hatred" laws: a shameless attempt to pacify the extremists in our midsts.

There will always be people willing to fight the status quo. From Guy Fawkes to Martin MacGuinness via every flavour of non-conformists, anarchists, levellers, Marxists, nationalists and finally back to square one with religious extremists. Any settled, stable society is bound to suffer from terrorists. Ignore them and they will go away, only to be replaced by another lot of extravagantly bearded loons willing to kill and die for whatever nirvana is promised by their chosen interpretation of their chosen book. The repressive laws you put in place, however crop up later to trouble subsequent generations.

Our strength as a society comes from our diversity. By this I mean diversity of opinion: freedom of speech and the need to defend your opinions in the open court of ideas - I am not short of commentators calling me an idiot. Sometimes I deserve it and modify my stance. That's freedom. One also needs freedom to act according to your concience and the responsibility to take the consequences. The only equality is before the law. As such members of the establishment suggesting that Sharia be introduced into British Law is an utterly wrong headed attempt at appeasement, pleasing no-one. Attempts to introduce thought-crime legislation lead to humiliating defeats in the court for the government whilst criminalising young, dumb men who are probably just fantasizing about jihad. The real tragedy is that these men, when drawn to a life of action chose Osama bin Laden over the British Army. This is a result of the failed creed of multiculturalism.

If you have large numbers of people who do not mix in wider society, strange ideas can become prevalent. I'm thinking of Marxism in University Junior Common Rooms and Jihad in closed Muslim ghettos. Why is multiculturalism so disastrous? Because it is administered by people who have no love for their own country: the leftist local Government official. If the only bit of wider British society you interact with believes that your grievances are real, that Britain is at fault for all the problems in the world that the Union Jack and our ancient monarchy are not things to which you feel loyalty: If the host nation despises itself, how can recent immigrants possibly learn to love the UK?

Secondly the welfare state causes then entrenches despair. It pays people for disastrous lifestyle choices. It subsidises ignorant village imams. It prevents the low skilled and those without English from making the effort to find work. Thus the welfare state is at the heart of why poor British-born muslims feel such a sense of alienation and despair. The low waged are the principal victims of mass immigration, and these are disproportionately found amongst immigrant communities. Witness the 20% unemployment amongst British born Bangladeshis and the continual importation of Bangladeshi curry chefs. The welfare state subsidises entirely inappropriate immigration.

So the result is an alienated community, some of whom are in thrall to a foreign mediaeval cult of death. And the government responds with laws which alienate the majority of that community who aren't busy blowing themselves up, whilst giving undue hope to those who are that their aims are achievable. And because racial profiling is not allowed, British subjects from communities uninvolved in jihadi thought (whites, principally) are caught up in the hyperactive policing. This causes resentment amongst the native British population. This in turn fuels racism leading to further alienation of the Muslim community.

The Government's policy is responsible for a vicious circle which led to home-grown suicide bombers and 7/7. Is there another policy?

First, as I outlined above, Multiculturalism and the welfare state prevents integration. Abolish the welfare state. End translation services. Force immigrants to learn English. Repeal much of Nu Labours oppressive police state legislation. The Youth do not need ASBOs any more than Muslims need sus laws. Make the police answerable to those they serve, not political masters. All of these have been argued at length in this blog, and this forms a coherent platform of individual responsibility, a liberal state with strong security.

This is more optimistic than the NuLabour manifesto (for what it's worth) of more repression, ever curtailed freedom (for our own good naturally) and appeasement of our enemies which form both the cause and solution to of Britain's descent into totalitarian nightmare in a self perpetuating downward spiral of statist solutions. We are standing at the top of a long, and very slippery slope. We are still a free country, but only just.