1. ¹The Member of Parliament for Walsall South and Chairman of the House of Commons Defence Committee. Email: georgeb@parliament.uk
2. ²Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth
3. ³Research Assistant, Walsall South and Chairman of the House of Commons Defence Committee; email: georgeb@parliament.uk

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of the events of September 11th on the UK's business community, and the threat from what has been termed the 'new terrorism'. It summarises and analyses the effect on different sectors of the community, ranging from the public utilities to the financial and insurance sectors, and examines how security has been affected by the impact of September 11th. It also makes reference to the British government's response to the threat of the new terrorism, and to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee's reports The Threat from Terrorism and Defence and Security in the UK. Finally, the paper seeks to outline a number of considerations on how the UK could be better prepared for terrorist attacks.