be argued the biggest issue with counter terrorism is the cost to society. This involves both direct and indirect effects. Preventing terrorism requires resources resulting in a direct cost to society through the investment of various methods. Other effects involve increase costs for example tighter airport security increases the cost of travel for UK residents. Moreover, the government experiences a great cost from funding the schemes which can result in reduced expenditure in other areas such as education leading to an opportunity cost. Counter terrorism leads to increased spending however guaranteeing a terrorist attack will occur is difficult. Another indirect impact is the externalities and spill over effects caused by implementing the security measures.

The UK faces various terrorist threats however recently these threats are narrowed to extremist groups. In 2017 London suffered a transport terrorist attack where an explosive device denotated on a London underground train at the Parsons green. Unfortunately, this led to twenty-nine people being injured and was a result of the Islamic state of Iraq. These increased threats cause UK residents to live in fear worrying about the next attack therefore affecting UK security. Moreover, cyber terrorism is one of the biggest threats towards UK security however these new threats are more difficult to counter and protect the UK from. Recent concerns include potential threats on infrastructure as well as the government and businesses.

So, to enhance security policy against escalating terrorist threats the UK needs to enhance and strengthen counter terrorism. However, like most policies the effectiveness can be debated particularly as protecting the UK against threats is costly and near impossible. The UK could potentially implement multiple measures, all of which fall under the categories of defensive or proactive. The question over which type would be more effective to enhance UK security