The wrongful arrest of tens of thousands of British Muslims after the September 11 attacks can be explained by the very poor intelligence the police had, and, just possibly, excused by the fact that a terrorist action in Britain linked to British Muslims would have been hugely damaging.

Geoff Mulgan’s quote reflects on the wrongful arrest of tens of thousands of British Muslims following the September 11 attacks. He suggests that the primary cause of these arrests was the poor intelligence available to the authorities at the time. The lack of accurate information and understanding led to widespread mistakes, where many innocent people were unjustly detained in the pursuit of security and the prevention of further terrorist attacks.

Mulgan adds that the arrests might be excused by the fact that the authorities were trying to prevent a terrorist action in Britain linked to British Muslims, which, if it occurred, would have been hugely damaging both to the country’s security and its social fabric. He is acknowledging the difficult position the authorities were in, where they acted under immense pressure to protect the nation from the possibility of another devastating event. The possibility of a terrorist attack from within could have had a disastrous impact, and Mulgan suggests that this context, while not justifying wrongful arrests, might help explain the authorities’ heavy-handed approach.

The phrase “poor intelligence” is central to the quote, indicating that the police were acting with inadequate or unreliable information. This highlights a recurring issue in counterterrorism efforts, where intelligence failures can lead to both the misidentification of suspects and the violation of individual rights. Mulgan’s words imply that these mistakes were not intentional but stemmed from a rush to act and protect the country.

Overall, the quote critiques the balance between security measures and civil liberties in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack. Mulgan is not excusing the wrongful arrests but providing a contextual explanation for why they occurred, acknowledging both the failure of intelligence and the difficult decisions faced by authorities in trying to prevent further harm.