Former supreme court justice Lord Sumption today slammed Derbyshire police for stopping people exercising in the Peak District. Warning that they risk plunging Britain into a “police state”, he told BBC Radio 4’s World at One that police have no power to enforce “ministers’ wishes” and the public should not be “resigning their liberty” to overreaching “citizens in uniform [who] are not members of a disciplined hierarchy at the Government’s command”.
“The behaviour of Derbyshire police in trying to shame people using their undoubted right to take exercise in the country and wrecking beauty spots in the fells so people don’t want to go there is frankly disgraceful,” he said.
Derbyshire Police dyeing the “blue lagoon” in Harpur Hill, Buxton black
“This is what a police state is like, a state in which a government can issue orders or express preferences with no legal authority and the police will enforce ministers’ wishes”.
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One of the most unpleasant developments from all this is the emergence of individuals who just seem to have been waiting for an opportunity to intimidate and smear others. I know of those who have always had a “head prefect” mentality and they are now practically in a state of ecstasy.
The head-prefect is in us all – but some have the extra strong brand!
A further example of no matter what the group, organisation or institution there are always a section or sub- section keen, able and willing to kick the backside out of a situation.
Campbell over at Wings documented some of this on Friday:
https://wingsoverscotland.com/lets-not-kill-ourselves/
and it will come as no surprise to anyone who experienced Orgreave, Hillsborough, and a whole litany of far higher level examples from infiltration of Trades Unions and “left” wing deemed civic organizations to the clandestine activities of the Security State in NI; from organised undermining of political leaders (remember the not so secret plots against Wilson never mind Corbyn) through to political show trials.
Of which former UK diplomat Craving Murray documents from the here and now:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/03/jaccuse-2/
Point being that the idea of moving towards a ‘Police State’ obscures the point we are already far down that road, if not there, already.
Which one might observe is the whole point. Keep people scared of what might be – with fear porn – to divert attention to what is.
Meanwhile, here is a relevant set of observations to get ones teeth into:
https://www.rs21.org.uk/2020/03/27/23153/