This is a guest post by Matt Mahon Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe of the Met – played excellently on Monday by Iain Glen, fresh from the set of HBO’s Game of Thrones – was supposed to explain his ‘total policing’ policy at LSE on Monday. In fact, he flannelled for half an hour about the challenges [...]
Yesterday’s news that the Met is giving its officers access to plastic bullets for tomorrow’s student demonstration is, obviously, pretty disturbing. I’d guess it’s pretty unlikely they’ll actually be used – making a big announcement to the press two days before the event looks a lot more like an attempt to warn off any would-be [...]
Your starter for 10: Which voice of Britain’s embattled public sector workers said this yesterday? We acknowledge that some cuts are necessary due to the parlous state of the country’s finances, but we feel greatly let down that we are not considered to be a protected priority area by the government. They have and will [...]
On Saturday, a little bleary eyed from a party the night before, I went and marched with the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture. Smiley Culture (born David Emmanuel) was a star before I was born. Half Guyanese, half Caribbean, Smiley became an early success story from the Afro-Caribbean music scene of South London. Pick [...]
It’s safe to say that relations between the police and the activist left – the revolutionary left in particular – are generally somewhat less than cordial. So with that in mind, it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of reaction yesterday’s news of eye-watering cuts to officers’ wages and the possibility of a [...]
It should, I think, be uncontroversial to state that using a chemical agent that does this to peaceful protestors is pretty fucked up, to say the least. I was at the UKUncut Boots action on Sunday, and the sight of innocent people staggering blindly around while screaming in pain through tears and mucus is not [...]
A doctor who gave medical assistance to protesters on 9th Dec has spoken of the police risking a ‘Hillsborough-type’ disaster on Westminster Bridge: The anaesthetist from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, who gave medical assistance to the protesters, said that officers forced demonstrators into such a tight “kettle” on Westminster Bridge that they were in danger of [...]
Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin’. Please get out of the new one If you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’. Wow! What a month! Are we not [...]
Under proposals unveiled last week, police may gain the power to shut down websites with nothing more than an email. Nominet is the umbrella body the manages all domain names ending in uk (ie .co.uk and .org.uk). Following a request from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, they are considering adjusting the terms under which they [...]
Notice anything odd about this police officer? He caught my attention because he had covered up his identifying numbers with what appeared to be black tape. As you can clearly see they are not visible. When I asked him why I was repeatedly met with a stony silence. After Ian Tomlinson was attacked by a [...]
