The General Political Thread

[Edwin]

Hmmm yes, thought provoking discussion 🤔🤔🤔

[Edwin]

P A R T     &     P A R C E L

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44381757

It's sad as well as funny that articles such as this now exist. Maybe Mr Khan needs to get his priorities in order!

[Riddlez]

That is a dramatic increase... seems weird suddenly hundreds of people get the idea to start this...? what caused it? Did they get registered more?

And so far it seems more like a police problem than a political one.

[StevenChilton]

That is a dramatic increase... seems weird suddenly hundreds of people get the idea to start this...? what caused it? Did they get registered more?

And so far it seems more like a police problem than a political one.

Nothing to do with policing or politics, but rather simple economics. Phones are getting increasingly expensive so more people are stealing them.

Spoiler

[close]

[Toffee]

Well I doubt it helps that Britain has thousands fewer police officers

[StevenChilton]

Well I doubt it helps that Britain has thousands fewer police officers

If they have time to monitor Twitter, paint their cars pink and turn up to pride etc then they're clearly not understaffed.

[Toffee]

Well I doubt it helps that Britain has thousands fewer police officers

If they have time to monitor Twitter, paint their cars pink and turn up to pride etc then they're clearly not understaffed.

You mean if they have time to do things that part of their duties? Other than the car painting thing those are standard police roles. It’s no coincidence that crime has gone up since police numbers have been cut. Even many of the higher ups in the police service have said that cuts are putting people at risk.

[StevenChilton]

Well I doubt it helps that Britain has thousands fewer police officers

If they have time to monitor Twitter, paint their cars pink and turn up to pride etc then they're clearly not understaffed.

You mean if they have time to do things that part of their duties? Other than the car painting thing those are standard police roles. It’s no coincidence that crime has gone up since police numbers have been cut. Even many of the higher ups in the police service have said that cuts are putting people at risk.

Since when was it part of the job description to take part in pride marches? Monitoring twitter is probably the last thing they should be worrying about, if at all. I have no sympathy with complaints of lack of manpower. Per head of population police numbers are *significantly higher* than they were between 1945-90s in England and Wales. I also doubt whether manpower is to blame given it's mainly violent crime that has gone up and this has happened in England and Wales where police numbers have fallen, as well as in Scotland where they've actually risen.

If there were a genuine crisis in funding and manpower then operations can easily be prioritised (no more chasing bored teenagers on Twitter) and diversity budgets can be cut (yes, they have those).

[Toffee]

To provide protection and security at demonstrations is a pretty common thing. There are 20,000 fewer police officers in the UK than in 2010. Knife crime rose 20% in England and Wales this year.

You make it sound so easy to abandon parts of their role but I’m pretty sure if it was as simple as that then they would have already done it. They monitor online because that’s also one of the areas to have seen a major increase of crime. Why can’t you admit that they’re underfunded?

[Furrnox]

Getting prison time for something said on twitter is insane to me.

[Toffee]

Getting prison time for something said on twitter is insane to me.

I suppose it depends on the context of what was said.

[StevenChilton]

To provide protection and security at demonstrations is a pretty common thing. There are 20,000 fewer police officers in the UK than in 2010. Knife crime rose 20% in England and Wales this year.

Policing an event is totally different from taking part in it. I've no problem with the former it's part of the job, but the latter is far too political and takes up frontline staff. As I've said, per head of population the police are at historically high levels and have the latest technology at their disposal.

You make it sound so easy to abandon parts of their role but I’m pretty sure if it was as simple as that then they would have already done it

Genuinely laughed at that. For years now various police forces have *unilaterally* decided not to enforce drug laws.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11755995/Police-are-turning-a-blind-eye-to-cannabis-across-the-country-experts-claim.html

[Toffee]

Taking part in an event does not mean they can’t participate in it as part of community relations. It’s not that political seeing as being gay is perfectly acceptable in this country.

Also there is a difference between abandoning a role and simply managing it differently which is what your source is saying certain forces are doing. It even mentions cuts and how officers are taking a different approach because some ways haven’t worked. Cannabis use is, as I’m sure we all agree, a completely different beast from knife crime too.

[StevenChilton]

Pride events are overtly political and there is no law in the UK stopping people from being homophobic. Police need to be seen to be neutral and fair.

'Managing it differently'=not enforcing the law and turning a blind eye. They could manage Twitter differently by doing the same thing. Police cuts are just the latest excuse they wheeled out to justify turning a blind eye-this has been going on for decades it's nothing new. I'd question how completely different they are too given cannabis usage and the link to psychosis (and therefore violent crime). We've seen a lot of mentally ill killers on British streets who've been found to have been heavy cannabis users.

[Furrnox]

Getting prison time for something said on twitter is insane to me.

I suppose it depends on the context of what was said.

Getting prosecuted and sent to prison is reasonable to you?