Attack in Woolwich.

The murder of a soldier in London was shocking for the local people. I know this part of south London very well having grown up in Abbey Wood only a few miles away. I was also a junior cadet in the Metropolitan Police in Woolwich, and other stations in the area. Over the last few years this part of London, has gone from a mono-culture to a multi-ethnic community. In addition the National Front have had for some years a strong presence here. In fact it was only a couple of miles away that the racist attack took place on Stephen Lawrence. The attacker yesterday claimed his motivation was connected to our being in parts of the world that are predominately Muslim - especially Iraq  and Afghanistan. There is no easy solutions to any of these international problems that manifest themselves in violent attacks in our communities. In recent history we had all the violent attacks from the IRA in London - spilling over from Northern Ireland.