A couple of weeks ago, I wrote in this column about the statue that has been erected on the embankment outside the Ministry of Defence to honour those who served their country in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I began that article by referring to the view out of my office window at the House of Commons, from which I can see along the Embankment towards Westminster Bridge and Speaker’s House.

At the moment when I was writing that article, there was no traffic because the roads had been closed to enable the Queen to unveil the statue.

As I write this article, I am sitting in the same place, looking at the same view. Twenty-four hours ago, the Embankment and Westminster Bridge were once again empty of the normal traffic and the normal crowds of pedestrians – for the ghoulish reason that a group of pedestrians had been mown down mercilessly on the bridge by an ideologically motivated maniac who subsequently entered the grounds of the House of Commons and murdered a policeman before being shot by another policeman.

I am very glad to say that, as I look out of the window now, the whole scene has been restored to normality; and the House of Commons is proceeding with its business in the ordinary way following the statements that were made in the Chamber at the opening of business.

This is exactly as it should be. The best answer to terrorism, by far, is to continue with ordinary life – thereby showing that those who seek to disrupt our institutions and our liberal democratic society have failed and will continue to fail in their deplorable endeavour.