Public Servants 1

I’ve rarely heard anyone use this term without accompanying it with at least a wry smile. Usually it’s a snort or even a guffaw. It goes without saying that the police are least likely to live up to the notion of serving. When Robert Peel first proposed a police force in the early 19^th century the public were worried that there would be a spy on every corner and these agents of the state would be used to oppress the people in ways that were happening in France at that time. The myth of ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ was truncheoned into oblivion a long time ago and recent events such as the killing of a passer by and ‘kettling’ of children at legal demonstrations denied the former of life (which presumably is a human right that even the most right wing Daily Mail reading toss pot would concur with) and the latter all manner of other rights. The acquiescence and complacency of much of the media and a lot of the public shows how pathetic we have become in terms of political understanding or, perhaps, how much we are willing to concede for…what? A quieter life? Lower taxes? Fewer immigrants? It won’t be long before the cuts and job losses impact on the public consciousness, then the media and Clapham Omnibus users will be asserting first their disquiet then their outrage coupled with assertive claims that they had been against this rogue Cameron and these nasty, brutish policeman all along (who are probably infiltrated by brown people of course). It happened with the invasion of Iraq. It will happen again here so long as the agitators and activists keep  the faith, persist in the face of illegal oppression by the ‘boys in blue’  and understand that their efforts will be forever an embarrassing foot note once the snow balls become an avalanche.