Police our crisis in a firm but fair way
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GEORGE ALAGIAH has revealed that he has beaten coronavirus during his battle against bowel cancer. That is great “news” indeed as newsreader George, 64, is without doubt one of the unsung heroes of the business. Calm, firm and with no desire to insert himself into the story he’s covering, his is a masterclass in the trade. Good on you, George.
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REVENGE is a dish best served cold, as they say. And you can’t help but think the taste is particularly sweet for President Donald Trump as he made known the US will not be picking up the tab for security for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As Harry and, particularly, Meghan have radiated nothing but disdain fortrump, they can hardly be surprised.
CLEARLY there’s been no crime in North Yorkshire over the past week or so. Nor in Newcastle, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, even bits of London. How else are we meant to react to the extraordinary amount of time and resources the police forces covering these areas – as well as some others – have expended on enforcing the lockdown under which much of the country is being forced to live. Last week on this page, I highlighted the absurdity of Derbyshire Police deploying drones to take pictures of cars that had parked in areas of the Peak District to allow people to go for a walk. They’ve since poured dye into a lake to put off visitors.
In Newcastle, a 41-year-old woman was fined £660 for breaching the restrictions after she refused to tell police who she was and what she was doing at one of the city’s railway stations. That was quashed within hours but how did it ever get to court in the first place?
In Edgware, North London, the manager of a bakery was threatened with a fine of £80 for spraying lines on to the pavement to help customers maintain the required distance from each other.
Let’s get this straight: you need to respect and adhere to the government instructions. Failure to do this will, undoubtedly, cost more lives. Having house parties, barbecues or other get-togethers and ignoring social distancing is plain nuts.
We have to stick by the rules to protect our brave NHS staff.
But – and this is a mighty big but – as everyone from the Government, NHS and other services agree, we can only beat this “together” and so it is crucial the public are kept onside. Turning the country into an East German police state will obviously get the people we are trying to persuade offside.
Consider comments from someone such as former Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption, who has made plain his fears that Britain could easily sleepwalk into a “police state” as a result of this “collective hysteria”.
Former Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett is just as robust. He’s voiced his concern over “officious, heavy-handed policing that... threatens to have a profound effect on this country’s long-standing liberties”.
Both these learned men have nailed it and it’s time to take notice. As any and all policing commentators
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NEVER has the old adage rung more true: “If you want something done, ask a soldier.” At a time when we need our spirits to be lifted, just look at this picture of the work done at Excel in East London as they turned the vast arena into Europe’s biggest hospital in just NINE days in readiness for virus victims.
This was achieved by those Army heroes for one simple reason and that is discipline. They understand an instruction or order is just that, and in military terms, it’s best to “just crack on”. These selfless men and women don’t need working committees, “mind showers”, catch-ups, round tables, synergy sessions or meetings about meetings.
In the unlikely event you’re actually at your place of work, this might be worth remembering now and again... will tell you, in the UK we police by consent.
The cops are citizens just like you and me, they are not a paramilitary force as they are in much of the rest of Europe where some nations, with a history of fascist or communist rule, allow and believe in their police operating like an arm of the military.
Depressingly, while much of the rest of the country derided Derbyshire Police for using those drones, their Chief Constable Peter
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MORE than two weeks ago, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced an unparalleled level of funds he said the banks would make available to businesses to tide them over these grim economic times.that might have been the intention.the reality is, however, starkly at odds with that. An accountancy network announced that around 20 per cent of SMES (small and medium-sized firms, typically with fewer than 250 staff) were perilously close to collapse.these firms account for 60 per cent of people employed in the private sector and are our lifeblood.
That the banks are failing to pass on the money that has been specifically earmarked for them is nothing short of a scandal.when you recall that a little over a decade agowe bailedthem out – and we’ve still not had all the money back – it gets close to being criminal.
Amid reports of banks charging high interest on loans, demanding personal guarantees and even trying to shift desperate customers towards more expensive products, Sunak stepped in with new measures and a warning. Banks need to remember that a little humility and help now will go a long, long way in the future.
Goodman opted to ignore this very valid criticism, saying: “We had many, many members of the Derbyshire community contacting the police very concerned because villages that are largely filled by elderly residents who were selfisolating were inundated with thousands of visitors.”
Read that carefully and nowhere does it justify nor explain why it was felt they needed to “send in the drones!” Appearing on my breakfast radio show last week the nation’s top police officer, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, got it right when she said: “I’ve been very clear that in the first instance I want my officers to be engaging with people, talking to people, encouraging them to comply.”
That is the sensible approach. Explain, encourage and – if that fails – then you enforce.
Because, all we’re asking for is a fair cop.