What happened to the days of dark sunglasses and black briefcases? It may be stereotypical of our image of secret service agents, but how effective. Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick may not have had to resign had he kept that image up. Mr. Quick should have been accustomed to going through a line of journalists and photographers who habitually haunt Downing Street. He was supposed to have been experienced, so he should have known better. It’s sad to realise that it was not the first time that information had been leaked this way.

Unfortunately, the police had to act quickly to cover up the blunder. And, fortunately, they were successful, but the job is not yet done. Now, what is the role of the media? Are they prevented from publishing any top secret information? I would certainly hope so. Although we live in a “free” society, where there is free press, I would not want the journalists to take it into their own hands to reveal anti-terrorism tactics to the terrorists themselves, even inadvertently. Rules may have changed since before the threat of terrorism was such a major issue, but there may be some rogue journalists who would flout the rules and try to profit from their “scoop”. I can only hope these would be charged with treason.