The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

Link: BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | Distract criminals, says minister.

Who took our streets from us? The police force was originally set up with no more rights or duties than the rest of us. Police officers were merely there to do, professionally, what any of us might do as concerned citizens.

This government has now usurped our rights and duties. In its view, only its police may act. We, as the helpless infants it seems to think we are, must call “nanny” if there is a problem. If we act ourselves, we can expect nanny to discipline us, not the troublemakers.

Tony McNulty is the Home Office minister responsible for the police, God help us. His ridiculous and immoral advice to “try some distractive (sic) activities” while waiting for the police to arrive, rather than intervene to help an old lady being assaulted shows just how far this nonsense has gone. His acceptance of Jeremy Vine’s sarcastic suggestion that an onlooker should “jump up and down” would be funny if it were not so pathetic. What kind of a disgusting loser thinks like Mr McNumpty? With advice like this from the authorities, is it surprising that thugs believe the streets are theirs?

Any able-bodied person who followed this advice should be ashamed of himself. Even if ignoring it may land him in jail.