As pointed out by TimberWolf in the comments, today’s Telegraph carries a detailed interview with Lib Dem London Mayor candidate Brian Paddick:
Unusually for a former policeman, he is against ID cards and opposes the Government’s plan to extend detention without trial for terrorist suspects. “It’s ostracising Muslims.”
When it comes to “London issues” he is against bendy buses in the city centre and thinks delivery drivers should be exempt from the congestion charge. His favourite thing about the capital is the Thames.
His main pitch, however, is that with 30 years of frontline policing experience he knows how to make Londoners feel safe. “People have forgotten what policing is about,” he said. “Police officers should be citizens in uniform who simply do the things that everyone would do if they had the equipment and the training.” Health and safety laws have, in his view, got in the way. “Policing is a dangerous job, we should trust the professional judgment of officers on the front line. We shouldn’t prosecute them or their bosses if they decide to put their lives on the line for the public.”
Read the full Brian Paddick interview is available here.
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3 Comments
More reading matter for you.
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I give it a few weeks before scandal no1 comes along….
I think Paddick comes across well. Whoever will be managing his campaign must look carefully at how we go about broadening his appeal. The Press will see it as a two horse race between Ken and Boris, but at some point there will be opportunities to broaden this into a three way competition. For some reason we never do quite as well in London as we all feel we should do; but I feel Paddick could break that record. He will appeal to those in the ethnic minority communities who see the need for good, effective but sensitive policing (and that’s not contradictory). But like many senior police officers we must also see that he has real mangement experience which is also very much in his favour.
He is, I feel, capable of expressing himself well in debate. I greatly admire Susan Kramer and feel she did an excellent job for us and is now, deservedly an MP, but I think Brian can get considerably further and indeed, why not the whole way? As a Londoner, looking down from here in Cambridgeshire, it’s a campaign I would love to be involved in, but we have enough challenges of our own!