Iām not defending her. If anything Iāve been hugely unimpressed by her campaign and am beginning to have serious doubts about whether Iāll even vote for her. I just donāt know what extra unarmed police would have done in this situation. The SAS were there in 8 minutes. What could unarmed police have done in 8 minutes? Would they have even arrived at the scene in as little as 8 minutes? I just donāt see how regular unarmed bobbies are much of a defence against an attack like this - particularly when youāre dealing with attackers who donāt care whatsoever about dying for their cause.
Peter Kirkham, former Chief Inspector at the Met, reckons that the police have lost the streets. The community police officer of the year, 2010, said in that Police Federation vid that the coppers had lost their ears on the ground due to cuts in frontline policing.
The cuts have meant that the authorities have gone from Crime Prevention to Crime Reaction.
From BBC website:
ā'Four police officers who tried to stop the attack were among those injured, two of them seriously.
One of them was an off-duty officer and amateur rugby player who tackled one of the terrorists, suffering stab wounds.
Another, a British Transport Police officer who joined the force less than two years ago, took on the attackers armed with only his baton.ā'
For all we know they intervened enough to stop more people being hurt or killed by buying some time for people to escape and armed officers to respond. Pure speculation on my part of course.
IF the story emerging is correct one amazing point stands out about last night.
Namely that the SAS were on the scene so fast. Possibly inside 8 minutes
Letās stop the petty bickering for a moment and even IF it was only ānormal armed Policeā that acted so quickly, something has changed in planning & rules of engagement
For the better imho
Perhaps Iām showing my youth here but Iāve never known it any other way.
Fair play. THIS is so British
Iāve paid for my pint Iām gonna bloody drink it!
Reminds me of my favourite āBlitz spiritā story:
A pub was caught in a bomb blast during the blitz and half of the front had collapsed, the landlord reopened a couple of days later with a missing frontage and a sign saying āMore Open Than Usualā
Isnāt there a permanent SAS detachment in the capital?
I doubt theyād admit that bazza.
So many people of all faiths and nations coming together tonight to watch the multitude of streams from One Love Manchester.
Gulp.
Did a piece on the London attacks on FB.
Channel 4 news story about Trump considering a visit to London to show solidarity following the terrorist attack.
Heās neither wanted or needed tbf
May nicked her soundbite from 2012. If only sheād have listened instead:
Leman Street Aldgate, just mins away from London Bridge. This is true but donāt ask me how I know this, we never reveal our sources.
Well, in my youth, most places still had fully paid bobbies walking the beat. We all knew their names. They knew the difference between playful scoundrels and dangerous cunts.
Thereās an argument that the police themselves are making that due to personnel cuts, they are no longer able to make that distinction. They donāt have the intelligence, because they donāt have the resources.
May is quite unbelievably using her own failures to further her own agenda.
But they still flew in by Chopper & landed on London Bridge?
What is May going on about here
"So we need to become far more robust in identifying it and stamping it out ā across the public sector and across society."
Is this the public sector and society need to identify it, or that the public sector and society are riddled with extremism?