The police want us to know one thing about Anthony Williams, the alleged LNER knife attacker. We can only speculate about his motives, his record or whether he was responsible for an earlier attack in the London Docklands. But one fact was broadcast almost immediately: he was British-born.

The police put out a statement soon after arresting him (along with a second man, who was released afterwards):

A 32-year-old man, a black British national, and a 35-year-old man, a British national of Caribbean descent, were both arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Both were born in the UK.

OK, he was born in the UK. So were three of the four 7/7 bombers. So were the men who murdered Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks. So were the Westminster Bridge and London Bridge stabbing attackers, the perpetrators of the Manchester Arena abomination and, of course, the Southport knife killer, Axel Rudakubana.

I get why the police do their ‘UK-born’ shtick

Are we supposed to be reassured that we bred these monsters ourselves? That our sweet air failed to waft away their violent proclivities? That, despite having grown up in this country, they ended up hating our ways so much that they were prepared to risk their own lives to kill their fellow citizens? Isn’t it alarming to learn that, even if we somehow screwed the immigration tap shut tomorrow, the problem might persist for another generation?

I get why the police do their ‘UK-born’ shtick. They fret that hostility to immigration, especially when recent arrivals commit crimes, might lead to civil unrest.........

© The Spectator