In effort to ward off potential airborne terrorists, the British military has plans to use a residential apartment building as a missile base. Understandably, the residents of the building are up in arms about this decision, considering that, according to The Herald, nobody really bothered to ask them if it was OK to use their roof as a launchpad.
Hoping to avoid becoming a terrorist target themselves, the residents took the matter to court. The Herald reports:
Their lawyer, Marc Willers, told the High Court that the residents had "a fully justified fear that installation or deployment of the missile system on the roof of the Fred Wigg Tower gives rise to the additional risk that the tower itself may become the focus of a terrorist attack."
They claim the missiles breach their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects an individual's "right to private life and peaceful enjoyment of their home.
In response, the Defense Secretary Phillip Hammond told The Telegraph:
We have undertaken a wide programme of engagement with the communities affected, involving relevant local authorities, landowners, MPs, council leaders, and community meetings. These have shown that, while people understandably have questions and concerns which we have sought to answer, broadly speaking communities are supportive of our work.
"A small number of activists object to the deployment of these defensive measures and a legal challenge to the government's decision to deploy GBAD [Ground Based Air Defense] has been initiated. The [Ministry of Defense] will defend these proceedings vigorously and is confident of defeating them."
London has been a bit jumpy lately when it comes to national security, as evidenced by the full-scale "multi-agency anti-terror operation" they conducted on account of a "dirty-bomb scare" which turned out to be an electronic cigarette. Although the current threat level in the UK is "substantial"—the midpoint of a five-level scale—armed forces are expected to raise it to "severe" in mid-July in preparation for the Olympics. As of now, the Ministry of Defense still fully plans on using apartment buildings as missile bases as part of their severe alert defense initiative, but the decision is no longer theirs. The judge who is hearing the case told the BBC that the case is "urgent" and is expected to make a decision by Tuesday.
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