This week we remembered the anniversary of the London bombings of July 7, 2005, in which 52 people were murdered in random and senseless terrorist attacks. The UK government’s initial response was unifying – London would not let terrorists change our way of life. Their subsequent policies responding to the attacks – a proposed introduction of 90-day detention without charge in terror cases, and compulsory ID cards – were dropped after a public outcry and a realisation that implementing such policies would be doing the terrorists’ job for them – changing our way of life. Britain stepped back from a spiral of revenge, antagonism and more terrorism. It turned its focus towards trying to understand why people do such horrendous things to others. The situation isn’t perfect today, but I have no doubt that stepping back prevented more and potentially worse atrocities. Students and university worker among terrorism suspects arrested in Hong Kong I abhor terrorism in all its forms, from bombings to the attempted murder of policemen. I have no truck with anyone glorifying or justifying it , whether by “religious” fundamentalist hate speech or taking their kids to mourn the death of a policeman’s attempted murderer. But I say, in all honesty, that we must attempt to understand why people act like this as an essential step to preventing it happening again. The Hong Kong government’s response is exactly what I would have expected of them – blaming everyone but themselves for these societal failings. Nobody in the government has uttered one word that unifies us. And they are making exactly the same mistakes as the British government: creating a spiral of “further tightening” and “more laws” that may well lead to more antagonism. Us vs Them: Hong Kong’s dangerous tribal mentality In her last policy address, the Chief Executive referred to the need to rebuild trust between the people and the government. I wrote to her and asked her what policies she would be proposing as part of that – I got the customary “no comment” response. The government has a choice – it can step back, find out what people are feeling, and try and rebuild trust, or it can pursue a never-ending spiral of mutual suspicion, violence and decay. Lee Faulkner, Lamma