This week Aylesbury MP David Lidington writes exclusively to Bucks Free Press readers:

The terrorist attack in Westminster in March was shocking in its brutality. Bereaved families and those who were injured will have to live with the physical and mental scars.

Those people will have to continue living with the grief and pain long after the cameras have been switched off and the headlines have switched to some other story.

In my capacity as Leader of the House of Commons I attended both the Westminster Abbey Service of Hope which commemorated all the victims and the funeral at Southwark Cathedral of PC Keith Palmer.

It was important too that Parliament itself expressed our sorrow and sympathy.

This was done in the Prime Minister’s statement and comments by other party leaders on the day following the attack.

After the tributes, the clear feeling across all political parties in the House was that we should then return to normal parliamentary business. I believe we were right to do so.

Terrorists seek to instil fear and stop us from going about our lives. To assert the mundane and routine in the face of terror is a way to show that we will not be intimidated.

We will not abandon the values and way of life of a free and open society. Nor will we allow hatred and violence to divide our country on grounds of race or religion.

Despite the dedication and professionalism of our intelligence agencies and police, in an open society there can never be 100 per cent security.

Tourists walking across Westminster Bridge, shoppers in Stockholm or Berlin, young people at a concert in Paris – normal life itself is seen as a target.

Of course we in Parliament are reviewing security as you would expect after any such incident.

We owe that to our nearly 15,000 pass-holders and the many thousands of visitors who come each year. But cannot close Parliament’s doors to our constituents.

Nor will MPs stop holding constituency surgeries despite the murder of Jo Cox last year.

We should be unceasing in our efforts to prevent and defeat terrorism, through intelligence efforts, policing, and diplomatic work with other countries. We do need to keep our laws under review and ensure that our agencies have the powers they need.

But we as a society also need to show in our resolve just to “keep calm and carry on” that the darkness will not overcome us.