Sarah Everard

It's vastly hypocritical though. Of course everyone has the right to protest but people who have supported restrictions have no right to criticise restrictions being upheld. Harriet Harman voted for a national lockdown and tighter restrictions and now she has criticised the police for enforcing them. She's an hypocrite.

Anyone who wanted a relaxation of the restrictions has every right to kick off massively, anyone who wanted them does not

 

In your opinion.

 

I’ll stop being a supercilious tw@t now.

No they haven’t. The Met had discretion here. That was a Court judgement (again) last Friday. They could have engaged with the organisers and chose not to, so the organisers called off the event. A number (500?) still chose to attend an event that lasted a day - including the Duchess of Cambridge!!). The Met then waited until darkness before exerting their Authority.

This is the action of the Police Force that actually triggered the protests by having one of their own accused of murdering a young woman in the vicinity of where the vigil took place. They have an international reputation for corruption and institutional racism. There are probably a few on this Board who have had first hand experience of their methods.

There actions were crass to say the very least but symptomatic of a force that often seems out of control under the Executive leadership of Cressida Dick and the political control of Pritti Patel.

( I accept some of the above is just my opinion).

 

Meanwhile a few miles away, Borough Market was rammed. Haven't seen pictures of anyone being dragged away from their Tibetan street food or whatever.

The organised, meticulously-planned vigil, with mask and distancing rules well established, should have been allowed to go ahead. By saying no, it was inevitable you'd end up with the scenes we witnessed last night. The police should've known that, and could have sealed off the area completely if they were serious about wanting people to stay away. But no, why do that and lose the vicarious thrill of using excessive force on peacefully protesting women??

 

It makes me sick that people who have said omg people will die people will die. Stay indoors stay indoors will then say oh actually fc.uk em let them die because I want a demonstration which actually when you think about it is what's being said both here and last summer.

Anyone against restrictions has every right to be angry, anyone in favour of them is an hypocrite for complaining they have been enforced. It really is that simple at the end of the day.

And I'll say again I can't imagine the heartbreak Sarahs family is going through and I hope the man responsible rots in jail for the rest of his days getting beaten every day till he's 80. I think any man who ever hits a woman deserves prison and anyone who ever sexually assaults or abuses or harasses a woman needs to take a long hard look at themselves. I'd personally make it illegal to shout certain comments at strangers (no idea if it already is). I just don't think that it's acceptable for the people who called for restrictions to slag off the police for upholding the restrictions they called for.

 

If you think last night's performance was a one off, please check out the police sentencing bill which is about to go through the House. Basically freedom of speech and congregation is under threat. If an event is deemed to potentially cause unease in a community it will be banned.
Right to strike / picket at a workplace gone? There will always be folk on opposite sides of disagreements, basically someone will always be uneasy about something.

Some believe the government want a culture war......

 

Fully respect your opinion as I do everyone's on the matter. It's obviously extremely emotive for many for reasons which don't need explaining. It's just the hypocrisy I cannot stomach. Calling on people to lose freedoms but then saying oh except mine when I want to do as I please. Kate should be fined too by the way if she broke the law. Set an example of her and show everyone that wealth and power doesn't allow you to do as you please. Sadly this government proved they won't do that last April when cummings took their lass for a birthday holiday.

 

Maybe if a Tory MP was allowed to sell pin badges at a 1000% mark up at the demonstration, then maybe it would have been allowed? Or am I wrong?

 

Spot on Dream boy. Police are nothing but cowards who pick their victims.
Scared to do anything to stop rangers fans celebrating but brave enough to roughly man handle and throw their weight about v women.
I’ve no respect for any police officer.
I’m old enough to remember the scum and how they treated striking miners in the early 80s

 

The police should have allowed it provided social distance was maintained at all times, people wore masks and it occurred during daylight hours. As I understand it there is some flexibility in the legislation to allow it.

However, by failing to come to sort of agreement with the organisers, the police missed the opportunity to set strict boundaries of what was and what wasn’t acceptable. As it often the case, people start with the best of intentions but adherence to social distancing wanes the longer the gatherings go on. It also wasn’t helped by people attempting to give speeches from the bandstand which meant people crammed closer together to listen. This is the sort of boundary that could have been agreed had talks not broken down. After dark is also when the more extreme members of society join in protests, and sadly there was a small minority holding ACAB signs who were there to protest against the police and cause trouble. It must have been awful for the family to see some individuals hijacking the vigil like this.

But at the end of the day, this would never have happened had talks not broken down. The innocent people who were simply there to pay their respects and show support to an important message would have abided by the rules and would have been and gone before the more unsavoury scenes occurred. However, I don’t think the police can be blamed entirely. They have a very difficult job to do and its almost impossible to identify the innocent from the trouble makers.

 

That is the decision of the Scottish goverment not England.

 

Regardless of the law they should have policed with common sense and left them alone. Pulling peaceful women out of the crowd at random to 'stop the spread of Covid' was just utter stupidity and more likely to spread it than not. But it's the Met and they're a shambles of a force who aren't fit for public office.

 

And it was a sensible one. That's the difference.

 

All blame rests on the shoulders of the incompetent one at the top.
Her officers failed to take proper action against a serving officer who apparently exposed himself at a take away. Had he been taken off the street a woman would still be alive today.
Her resignation for me is not enough. But she and many officers have to lose their jobs.

 

What about the fact that it wasn't a peaceful vigil but had been hijacked as a political protest by people holding up ACAB signs, with spray paint and with leaflets handed out telling people how to evade arrest and how to hide evidence?

Even her own friends and family refused to attend as it was no longer about Sarah and was simply a political protest

 

Not in a pandemic and if you care about others.. Its common sense. People should have been allowed to pay respects but in small segregated numbers. They also arrested 8 women who travelled from Newcastle and I cannot travel 25 miles to see my elderly sick Father..dont preach to me about what idiots seem to take as their rights above law abiding citizens.

 

In fairness to TM he is only saying what he's said all along regarding lockdown. It's those who campaign for it but want it to be relaxed when it suits them who are the hypocrites

 

Not if there is a surge in covid cases because of it. Apparently cases have taken a rise recently.

 

Is it a crime to not like the police and hold up signs? The event would have not garnered the notorioty it had, had the police taken the sensible view that it should be left alone because the alternative was, as we saw, a less favourable outcome. The footage I've seen shows the police as the aggressors in a situation that required common sense policing, which is clearly beyond the Met.