Terrorist murder in Madrid

Madrid is a great city. I spent a month there, aged 18. I taught English in the evenings, and in the day taught myself Spanish - badly! I'd spend hours walking - round Puerta del Sol, inside the Museo del Prado, relaxing in the Parque del Buen Retiro.

This park is next to Atocha - the train station where the first bombs went off last week.

Those barbaric murders reveal the new nature of the terrorist threat. Like the 9/11 outrage that hit America, such evil is beyond reason. It assaults our whole way of life. In Britain, just as much as in Spain.

So we must consider, again, how we defeat this threat.

Our Government has, since 9/11, done a great deal to defend us against terrorist attack - and to prepare for the horrors of an attack that gets through.

Yet there remains more to do.

Recently, the Home Secretary published new ideas, many of which I support - including the relaxation of the blanket ban against 'phone tapping, and allowing the use of such evidence in court.

It must now be right to allow MI5 and MI6 to monitor suspected terrorists, using all forms of technology. So the news of extra resources for the security services is welcome.

Such measures show it is possible to be tough on terrorism, without suspending historic rights like "habeas corpus" - the right not to be detained without charge or trial.