Britain's Invisible Net

THE constant threat of terrorist activity makes security as much an issue in Britain as in India. John Major and his shaken cabinet members had to duck under a table when a rocket was fired on 10, Downing Street from Whitehall. Margaret Thatcher escaped a bomb attack on her hotel in Brighton when she was prime minister. Bomb blasts are an occasional occurrence London has learnt to live with. The security cover around British government leaders and the royalty is thick, but much of it is not visible.

Traffic can get held up when the Prime Minister drives by, but it is for seconds. Police motorcycles work in sets of two or three overtaking one another and stopping traffic for the car to pass through. It is usually just two cars, the Prime Minister's and one other security car. On occasions, the Prime Minister has been seen leaving in his car with none other. But two cars are still short of a convoy. The police seem to have made invisible security a fine art.

At a dinner held for South Asians at the Banqueting House in Whitehall recently, Major mingled freely with guests. A policeman in plain clothes hovered around him, and that was all anyone could see by way of security. And he too was given away by just a thin wire plugged into an earphone. Guests were asked to bring a small invitation card sent to them. They were let in with barely a glance at the card. Nothing like metal detectors was anywhere in sight.

So it is with royalty. Guests invited by Prince Charles to St James' palace at an event where Sonia Gandhi was present were not ushered in through metal detectors. All they needed was a small card sent with their invitation cards so it could fit into a pocket. But when Prince Charles visited the Indian high commissioner's house, guests passed through metal detectors.

Metal detectors are installed at Parliament House, but it's still far easier to enter than the one in Delhi. Invitations or passes are not necessary. All anyone has to do is to queue up on the pavement outside and await their turn to go in. No one doubts that they are being watched by more than just the few uniformed police-men on duty. But much of British security is now electronic and invisible. Uniformed policemen take charge at formal entry points and of crowd control at public events.

The light visible policing could be a sign, paradoxically, of a more severe policing than in India. The Home Office has a file on everyone, and the police are said to keep a close surveillance on politically active people. Security is not just an exercise at an event where government leaders are present. It has a reach beyond what the Indian police have, that too for a few. Primarily because in Britain numbers are more manageable and records better organised.

For the vast majority of MPs there is no security at all. One MP, for example, now regularly takes the Underground train to his constituency to address election meetings. With the IRA threat, Downing Street has been sealed off with iron gates but such visible barriers are unusual in a society where the police have been trained to keep up a tradition of relatively unhindered access to their leaders. The policeman outside 10, Downing Street is symbolic and a continuation of tradition. The real security is through invisible cameras and electronic beams. The theme for security is to keep it sensible but invisible.