Our Commissioner says he is 'embarrassed' and that it was all unexpected.
Not unexpected by the troops on the ground, obviously. But I'm sure that penny pinching had nothing to do with parading the bare minimum of officers to try and cope with the thuggery that we suspected would happen. I actually have sympathy with the ideology of the 'real' protestors today, but not the mindless idiots that spoilt it. Or the mindless idiots that supported the violence when they should have been rejecting the actions of the thugs who have done a disservice to the genuine fears many currently in education have.
As one of my mates said whilst we tooled around in a public order carrier last night: "Lack of an overtime budget isn't going to stop them kicking off tomorrow. I mean, we can't just tell them there's no overtime available so they have to go home now. That's not the bosses plan. Is it?"
Gadget can probably put it better than me, and possibly with a hint more objectivity.
I do suspect that this is just a taste of things to come, and that we may well be about to experience a winter of discontent. I know I'm not alone in thinking that, most of my colleagues are also resigned to more protests, and more violence evident in them.
Canteen gossip today is suggesting that the havoc today was planned by our senior management. That we have been hammered in the press so much recently when it comes to public order policing, and the bosses have finally said "sod it, let them get on with it without our interference and see how it works out."
I of course have risen above this level of cynicism - but it'll be interesting to see our future approaches to public order incidents/demonstrations.
11 comments:
First!
On a more serious note, having never been a uni student, I do support the principle of the protest. The Lib Dems have a lot to answer for and have surely lost a whole generation of voters. But the violence today is too much. It always is, in any and every protest.
It annoys me, as I am sure it does you, when Police Officers are injured. You were thin on the ground, also outnumbered and bullied for just being there. I heard a fire extinguisher was dropped from the roof and landed pretty close to a line of officers.
Unfortunately I don't think that was done by a student protesting. That was the action of someone with a personal issue against a group of individuals who at some point in this person's past caught them doing something naughty. I don't know, I may be wrong, I hope I am right, but I am definately glad there were no serious injuries today.
The symbolism of the red and black flag is interesting. Naive student protest hijacked by the usual suspects? Whatever next?!
They protest "violently" because they know they get away with it. The post incident investigation will scoop a few up who will face court and get what?
A G20 darling window smasher got away with no jail time !! Why different this time? Silly posh kids making a fashion statement just like the rave the other week.
The problem is post G20, that the troops are petrified of being treated like Tony Smellie. I don't blame them.
After seeing the DCC on Sky yesterday .. I'd prefer to see some more plain speaking from the top.
Unfortunately the bosses (apart from the embarassment of us being mugged off again)will be happy that the blue line was not live on Sky charging "tomorrows future" batons drawn.
Students my arse. If I was a student, I would be getting on with learning my subject to pay off my current debt. Most of those scum were only there to fight.
But the big question is...how was the cabbage?
Slowjoe
TonyF, you are making the mistake of thinking that middle class 19 year olds are sensible enough to be taking advantage of their heavily-subsidised education...
Also, my point about the Black Flag stands. Typically a number of "genuine" protesters (one can debate whether they have a point of not till the cows come home) were hijacked by the usual ragtag of left wing agitators. The SWP were there in force, apparently.
As for a winter of discontent, Area, weren't we promised one of those last summer?
Gadget can probably put it better than me
Probably not. He's as predictable and shallow as the Daily Mail even when he's actually right about something, which isn't as often as he seems to think.
You're much more interesting to read.
A riot in Lewisham in the mid 70′s was headlined as `the first time that riot shields were issued to police in England`. The truth was that the van containing said shields was broken open by the officers on the ground, fed up from taking incoming missiles and fed up from waiting for the order to get the shields out, because they had judged that the point of no return had been passed. The shields were then used to enable them to close the gap and deliver justice. A memorable moment.
The above was a lazily cut and paste comment I made elsewhere this morning. As an old git still occasionally wincing from a public order injury 25 years ago, I saw nothing but the same old same old on that bloody horrible news footage. I was heavy of heart when I heard the senior `empty uniform` spokesperson. Had an officer been knocked to the ground and expire from an embolism, would that not have made G20 look more like the good piece of public order policing it actually was - from the macro perspective?
My money is on you being dead on Area with the comment re. fine they want soft public order policing? etc.
Hope whatever twonk dropped that fire extinguisher rots in a prison for a decade or two; who am I kidding, never happen!
BS: Already bailed.
For a police officer/someone who works in *law enforcement* you don't seem to think much of flagrantly breaching copyright law in nicking those photographs...
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