Ian...I'm an old guy, and live in tropical storm prone Florida, so my perception of threat has been here since my first hurricane in 1962...when growing up took part in the "duck and cover" exercises by Civil Defense in case of a nuclear attack...my military service was targeted against Cold War targets as well as to support a conflict in South East Asia. With the Berlin Wall no longer a visible threat, and Soviet T62/72s pulled back from the Fulda Gap state supported external threats to the UK has diminished... I don't know how you perceive terrorist events however...when times are good, and the news is not that bad, perception of threat tends to diminish... regards

my maternal grandfather (a Robertson) was born in Edinborough Castle (sp)