Donald MacLeod: The terrorists will win if we let them define our Euro referendum

Brussels Airport And Metro Rocked By Explosions (Carl Court/Getty Images)

It was also a week of historical significance in which the Scottish Parliament took a further step towards independence by setting its own rate of income tax.

But all that and more were immediately eclipsed when Brussels airport and the city’s Maelbeck Metro station were
targeted by suicide bombers.

They were callous, indiscriminate, murderous acts of sheer terror that left in their bloody wake 31 dead and more than 250 injured.

Afterwards mantras of unwavering reassurance and determination were quickly rolled out to calm a fearful but resigned public.

The fight against terror will continue! We must be steadfast in our resolve to defeat this unseen enemy! This aggressor will never win! Blah, blah, blah!

All mealy-mouthed words said and heard before and nothing of note has really changed except, it seems for the worse.

We are still being targeted by the terrorists. Even with ever-increasing security and surveillance we now seem to be less secure and even more vulnerable.

This is a global problem that is not going to go away any time soon. Not for generations to come.

Acquiescence to this threat is definitely not the answer. We must not accept these appalling acts of barbarity as some sort of norm and constantly live in fear of terror.

We do, though, have to accept that the world has now changed and that our enemy might not be another country but a fellow countryman, a friend or a neighbour.

And that we may indeed one day find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But we have to carry on living.

The West must stop playing in the Middle East. Decisive military action has to be taken to stop or at least limit the carnage.

Troops on the ground need to go in and soon. Every day of doing nothing adds to the numbers of refugees, emboldens ISIS and strengthens President Assad.

That action may indeed create a few more terrorists but it would see many thousands of them out of harms way.

Here in the UK the Brussels bombings have almost certainly , and regrettably set the tone of the European Referendum debate.

The Stay campaign, already on a shaky peg over rising numbers of immigrants, the free movement of people and the current refugee
crisis are very worried.

You see, the bombs help Brexit.

Forget the many confusing debates to come over the European Union, the centralising of power and its huge cost.

Fear of terrorism and of an attack here in the UK will now dominate this crucial debate.

The most important choice the electorate has had to make in more than 40 years, a monumental decision that will shape these islands and the way we live our lives for generations to come, could now be determined by the attacks in Paris and now Belgium.

Fear of a terrorist bomb will become the main talking point for many in this Referendum.

And Brexit will romp home if there’s another attack either here or abroad before we go to the polls. Fear is a weapon that is used by a well-armed terrorist but it can be just as destructive when deployed by polished politicians.

And if the UK does decide to leave Europe and turn these isles into fortress GB due to its irrational fear of foreign immigrants then the terrorists will have won.

We will have lost and sadly there will be no going back.

Fears blue lights on unmarked emergency services vehicles could be stolen and used by terrorists