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Newbury MP Richard Benyon condemns "disgusting and disgraceful" Paris shootings





Twelve people died and four were injured when hooded gunmen, suspected to be Islamic extremists, opened fire in the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Mr Benyon said: "What happened in Paris was absolutely disgusting and as low as it gets.
"Murdering journalists and attacking them in their place of work for doing their jobs is disgraceful.
"What would we be thinking if, god forbid, something like this happened at Private Eye or at the Newbury Weekly News? It is very sobering.
"It is extremely concerning that this has not happened in the Middle East or some distant country, but right on our door steps. Paris is closer to West Berkshire by train than Manchester is.
"It represents a crescent of instability that has encompassed Europe from the Middle East. We live in a troubled world and sadly this tragic event emphasises that.
"Our security services here in Britain have stopped similar attacks happening on our own soil but terrorists only need to be lucky once - we have to be lucky every time."
Last September Mr Benyon said he was in favour of air strikes against ISIS, claiming the alternatives were "too horrendous."
Asked whether he felt air strikes could lead to more terrorist attacks in Europe, he said: "I believe it diminishes the threat.
"Their ability to destabilise entire regions and attract more and more ignorant youths from countries like Britain and France to go and fight for them is a huge worry.
"The international coalition has managed to help local forces to contain ISIS street fighters. I look favourably at continuing military operations."
"One of the cornerstones of a tolerant and fair society is the right to offend.
"It does not do any harm for newspapers to criticise, ridicule and challenge people within the realms of decent behaviour.
"If we lay into the hands of disgraceful terrorists and somehow limit the ability to satire them we are on the fast track to them winning and us losing and our society being diminished as a result.
"We need to show them they cannot win.
"Satire has been done for hundreds of years, to people like bishops, politicians and judges and we should defend that."




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