THE united condemnation of the barbaric murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich last week has raised important issues about how a civilised country like ours protects innocent people from random acts of evil.

There are those who say that our cherished freedoms of speech and religion, underpinned by sophisticated police and security services, are sufficient as we contemplate a random act; others argue that this incident should compel government to re-assess the way we monitor those who promote extreme ideologies which radicalise young men, leading to the murder last week.

I have always believed that the security services need the tools and freedoms to collect information as they see fit and that their requirements are likely to evolve as technology changes.

Instinctively, I find the arguments which contend that we should resist the misnamed “snoopers charter” unconvincing.

The more information we have, the easier it will be to understand what is happening and intervene before appalling crimes are committed. I hope this recent tragedy causes the Home Office to think again about whether the powers available to our police and security services are adequate.

If a Bill is required to allow monitoring of internet use then this should be brought forward quickly in the national interest.

I would rather know that we are doing all we can to monitor the extreme minority of people who motivated Lee Rigby’s killers than worry about the often theoretical risk of having a civil liberty infringed.

What can be more threatening to our civil liberties than being randomly butchered by someone we didn’t hitherto know existed or harboured such intent? Let’s move beyond emotive headlines about “snooping” and recognise that if we don’t break the law we have little to fear and that if we can shine a light into extremism in order to act on its most perverse workings, we should do so.

On Thursday evening I will be at the Arts Centre to see a collaboration between Bath Philharmonia and Youth Action Wiltshire; Listen to Us involves a performance by a group of young people who all have significant caring responsibilities – one of many excellent events in Salisbury’s International Arts Festival fortnight.