May 7, 2023	INDEX
Radio 4 news ran an item a few minutes ago about "heavy handed policing" quoting a former police big wig as saying "we don't want a police state". This must have confused most of the listeners since the beeb did not make any attempt to explain the issue: which is fantasy policing whereby the police gain what they describe as "intelligence" that some crime is going to be committed and then arrest the people who they think might commit it. Since no crime has been committed and there are no criminals, what happens is they lock them up in the slammer for a few hours then release them. Having been in cell myself (picket line offences) I can tell you that this is no fun. But to return to the plot: the police have been given the power to indulge in this fantasy policing by the new policing legislation (which like all policing legislation in recent years is even more draconian than the last policing law). But you wouldnt find any of this out by listening to the beeb.
INDEX	May 7, 2023 Jonathan Brind