Is your father having a little nap , after a hard day at work ? Has your Grandad just returned from the allotment and is now having a nice cup of tea ? Grandmother ? She's done the ironing and is now watching a bit of telly or listening to the radio ?
Well , shame on the lot of them !
According to our new Home Secretary , "Thumpem " Clarke and his Superwoman sidekick , Ms., "Streets-safe " Blears , people should NOT be relaxing at home and moaning about the police but should be , "up and at 'em "----street thugs , that is , not the police . No more taking it nice and easy after a lifetime in the steelworks ------grab that truncheon and get out there !
To be fair to Clarke and Blears they DIDN'T actually suggest that we should all rush out and arrest a few hooligans . Well , thank God for that small mercy. Usually the thugs are younger , more violent and fitter than we are and if , by luck , we did manage to apprehend a vandal ..et...al... what are the chances of us getting nicked for , "assulting " them .?
No , all , Clarke and Blears want us to do , apparently , is to co-operate with the police and warn them of crime taking place . Isn't that what most people have been trying to do for years ? If a lot of S.F. posters are to be believed , the effect of contacting the police is about as useful as teaching John Prescott the value of walking and talking.
It's a bit unclear exactly what this desperate duo want the public to do . This same public already pays taxes to the end of May [see related topic ] each year to pay for things like their safety. Do Mr. Clarke and Ms. Blears want them to eventually do the job themselves , whilst the police fly about in heli-copters and fill forms in about ethnicity and targets ?