This case reminded me of something. When I was in Israel last May I saw loads of Israeli police all over the place but I never feared them. I never thought that they would pull over and question me because they didn't like the look of me or because they had been appraised of my political views or anything like that. I was either completely neutral about their presence or respected them for keeping me and my family safe whilst we were there.

Even when I had a much closer interaction with them when I reported what I believed was a suspect bag in Hostage Square I didn't fear that my words would be twisted against me or I would be in some sort of trouble because the bag turned out to be innocent and had been left there by an idiot tourist. The police didn't even hassle the idiot tourist only gave him 'words of advice' and let him go on his way. I don't have the same feelings or views about the British police these days and I'm someone who has on occasion in court reporting and similar work had close and sometimes friendly relations with UK police. I'm not naturally anti-police because of some of my employment background but too many UK police forces have followed policies that have caused me to remove my trust from them.