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At the time of writing, the events in Munich on Thursday 13th February are still unfolding. The latest information from German police says that a 24 year old Afghan asylum seeker has been arrested for ramming a car into a crowd of trade union protesters. Thoughts and sympathies have been issued, but the Bavarian premier, Markus Söder, has rightly called this out, saying ‘we cannot go from attack to attack and show concern… but must actually change something’.
This is the third time in 6 months that Germany has fallen victim to a violent attack. In August 2024, 3 people were stabbed to death in a terror attack at a festival in Solingen, and in December 2024, a man drove his car into crowds at the Magdeburg Christmas markets, killing 5, and injuring more than 200. The aftermath of these attacks also saw condolences come pouring in from world leaders across the globe but as is clear from today’s attack, these sympathies have done little to effect real change.
Attacks such as these are not the only that fall to ‘thoughts and prayers’ mantra. In fact, the phrase is trotted out so regularly by politicians in America in the aftermath of mass shootings, that the statement now has its own wikipedia page. This phrase has done nothing to stem the problem of gun violence in the US: in 2024there were over 480 mass shootings, and there have been over 30 mass shootings in 2025 thus far, despite only being 44 days into the year.
Closer to home, politicians were quick to offer their thoughts and prayers in response to the Southport stabbings, an attack which was entirely preventable. On the 21st January, the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, outlined various measures for change in the wake of the stabbings, focused around the Prevent organisation, online knife sales, examination terrorism legislation, and examining contempt of court legislation. While there is no doubt these changes will make a difference, even if only a small one, what is not certain is when these changes will come. With no hard dates from the Home Secretary, how can the British public be reassured that change will come? With no changes happening in the US or Germany, there is hardly a precedent for trusting that real change is in the works.
All of this is not to say that offering condolences is a meaningless endeavour. The recognition by politicians of these events and the mass trauma they cause is important, and can help bring comfort to the families who fall victim to such atrocities. But how long will it be before the public get fed up with this same violent cycle? While thoughts and prayers may offer comfort at the time, they do nothing to prevent other families from experiencing the same grief.
There is no denying that global tensions are rising, both on the global stage such as the war in Gaza and at the domestic level amongst political differing political ideologies. These tensions always come to a head as is evidenced by these violent attacks, and their aftermaths such as the 2024 UK summer riots. People are steadily growing sick of hearing the same platitudes, of experiencing the same trauma, of seeing no change. Rather than placing blame and tearing down the opponent, politicians should be working together to fix the systemic issues within their countries. Thoughts and prayers won’t solve gun violence, they won’t end knife crime, and they won’t prevent terror attacks – only real action will. The time has come for action.
Edited by Isabel Whitburn
Image: ‘Change’, 2011 // CC BY-NC 2.0
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