In the wake of the murders of police officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in Manchester yesterday, the issue of whether police should be armed is being raised by journalists.
The Scotsman reports Nick Clegg’s comments when asked about this today. He was quick to say that arming Police Officers was not the answer.
I don’t think this is the time to rush to instant judgments, this really is a time for mourning and support, of course, for the family and friends of the two women who have been killed.
We have a long tradition in this country, which is a great tradition, of policing in the community, of the police being part of the public and the public supporting and giving their consent to the police.
I think if we were, in an instant to, in a sense, arm our police to the teeth so they become separate from the public, that would be quite a big change which would have considerable risks attached to it.
I think it is the kind of thing that you need to look at very carefully and certainly not, even though I know emotions are running high, in an instant way after this terrible, terrible tragedy.
This seems to me to be a measured and sensitive response to an awful event.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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2 Comments
What an astonishingly stupid tragedy. My hearfelt condolences to the families and friends and colleagues.
This seems to have been an ambush, so it is perhaps unlikely that arming the policewomen would have saved them. More likely, it would make police in general more like targets, as well as lead to more “collateral damage” and the serious consequences of that. Better to protect police with body armour, backup, better information about what they are likely to face, and a criminal justice system that takes determined action to reduce criminality.
Clegg is right. Armed police would undoubtedly just lead to more armed criminals.
The real issue we should be concerning ourselves with here is how we tackle the gang culture that blights so many communities. Yesterday’s appalling events appear to be the conclusion to a ten-year-long gang feud. The police have known about it all along but have never been able to take the participants off the streets because nobody with any sense of self-preservation at all would ever stand up in a court and testify against them. Peter Fahey has made this very clear today. In Manchester, several gangsters have attained minor celebrity status while laughing at the impotence of the criminal justice system.
I don’t know what the solution is. A few thoughts, off the top of my head, are that we should perhaps consider trial by judges for some gang crimes; or perhaps some sort of control order system for known gang members. Not palatable suggestions in liberal circles, I know – but does anybody have any better ideas?