CYA is SOP at the MoD

Following Wednesday's brutal killing of a soldier, the MoD is keen to slam the stable door shut:

Defence sources said the order had been given that uniform should not be worn by those travelling alone, or on public transport as a "common sense precaution" immediately after the killing

Except - and correct me if I'm wrong here - the slain soldier was not in military uniform of any kind. He was wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt. The killers (who appear to have been acting alone) seem to have had additional information identifying him as a soldier, such as following him from the barracks.

The MoD REMFs issuing this order should be pressed to explain a) how absence of military uniform will prevent those anti-military elements from identifying soldiers in other ways and b) if these homicidal idiots were acting alone, why there is any reason to believe the current known threat to military personnel is any different from last week when they were not offering this advice. "Security" as a blanket response should be publicly derided, or at least run by a suitably cleared and independent politician to confirm that the security issue is real. Optionally, they should also explain why, if there is a significant short-term threat to personal safety of military personnel, said personnel should not be carrying personal sidearms.

I hate this kind of instinctive cover-your-arse move from the desk security weasels at the MoD. Either they have to admit that they are powerless to stop this kind of attack - in which case, what are we paying them for? - or they generate this fog of pointless and annoying restrictions solely for their own personal benefit to be seen as "doing something".