Police tour de force on a day of national pride

LAST MONDAY morning as the country basked in the glory that was the Coronation, the BBC was leading its news programmes on complaints the police had been too heavy-handed with protesters on the big day.

Various fatuous idiots were paraded across the air to proclaim that protest in Britain is “dead”: Oh no it isn’t, you clowns. If it were you wouldn’t be on national news droning on about it. Very unfortunately, the police later apologised to the anti-monarchist protester Graham Smith for arresting him. Frankly, most of us believe they did us a service.

The attention on this has been totally disproportionate. It’s about time there was a clampdown.

I very much hope the lenience that has been extended to protest groups intent on causing maximum disruption – shutting down traffic on motorways, ruining snooker matches, damaging beautiful artworks; you name it – will now be rethought.

These people have been handled with kid gloves and they need to be told to get back in their box in no uncertain terms. The rest of us are absolutely sick and tired of it. As they say, freedom of speech is not the right to shout “fire” in a crowded theatre.

The next time someone tries to glue themselves to a motorway, leave them there. That tactic worked in Germany. Enough of the light touch. On the day itself, the police did a magnificent job. The logistics must have been a nightmare: quite apart from the Royal Family, there were heads of state from all over the world.

If ever there was an occasion to attract the wrong sort of attention, this was it and yet there wasn’t a hint of real trouble.

As for republicans whingeing that they weren’t allowed to have their say: there’s a time and a place, mate.And this wasn’t it.

Criticising the heavyhandeness of the police was unwarranted. If there had been so much of a hint of a flour bomb in some vacuous form of protest, we’d have been an international laughing stock.

OUR politicians have not been much credit to the nation of late (although the current PM seems to be sorting that out) but at least we still have the Royal Family.

Apart from Harry’s stompingoff churlishness, they rose magnificently to the occasion, as they always do. This is why we have a monarchy – it’s because it works.

On the day, the police did their utmost to live up to the pomp and circumstance that no other country can do quite like this one.

Quite frankly, it made you proud to be a Brit.