Tony Blair talks a good talk, explaining the rationale for war far better than President Bush. But he now needs not just to talk but to act. In France, the interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, has just expelled another dozen Islamists. By contrast, Mr Blair seems paralysed. In the weeks after 9/11, Mr Bush rethought 40 years of US policy in the Middle East. The Prime Minister has a more difficult task: he has to rethink 40 years of British policy in Leicester and Bradford and Leeds and Birmingham.

(In 2001, after a Dutch crackdown on benefit fraud, 10,000 Somalis moved from Holland to one East Midlands town – Leicester. Why wouldn’t a Somali jihadist fancy his chances in such a country)

Blair has to regain control of Britain’s borders from the EU and of Britain’s education system from the teachers’ unions and of Britain’s welfare programmes from wily Somalis and others. In 20 years’ time, no one will remember whether Tony Blair abolished the House of Lords or foxhunting: that’s poseur stuff. They’ll judge him on whether or not he funked the central challenge of the times. If «the images of ruin and destruction» come to pass, it will not be because of the bombers but because of a state that lacked the cultural confidence to challenge them.

En regner med at det befinner seg minst 500.000 illegale innvandrere i Storbritannia. Storbritannia er ikke medlem av Schengen, men kontrollen ved mange havner, og jernbanestasjoner er minimal. Det skal bli interessant å se om terroren vil endre de åpne grensene. I Norge ankommer utlendinger Oslo S i helgene, og får beskjed om at de kan melde seg på politistasjonen mandag, hvis de vil.

Spania valgte egenrådig å gi amnesti til alle illegale innvandrere som kunne dokumentere et visst arbeidsforhold. 800.000 fikk oppholdstillatelse. Spania gjorde dette uten å konsultere de andre EU-landene, hvilket skapte betydelig irritasjon.