Obviously, part of me will always stand with my colleagues in the enforcement of the rule of law about which I feel passionately; it is the heartbeat of the British People, of our parliamentary democracy, of our whole way of life.
Watching in real time the first incursion of mounted officers, I was frustrated, shocked even, that the BBC commentator did not notice that one horse was riderless, that clearly there must be a rider on the ground; the helicopter camera caught it all, and yet the BBC commentator rabbited on oblivious to what was actually happening on the ground.
I can only put this down to the fact that having been a policeman on the lines during the bread riots, and having undertaken riot training as a 19 year old constable with mounted officers, I was watching with a very different perspective. As a horseman I know too just how serious it is when horse and rider become detached, and in Parliament Square yesterday the matter was very serious.
It took some 12 minutes for the BBC commentators to refer to the incident.
Much of the protest was of course peaceful, and the police have openly reported that. But they came under increasing pressure, attack even, from a persistent group of people that acted with only one intention - violence and anarchy.
That last word seemed strong yesterday even as the afternoon deteriorated to the formal mounted police charge. 3 hours later, when HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall found themselves caught up in the continuing lawlessness, I admit that my stomach turned. What if that paint had been a bomb? What if the paint thrower had been a suicide bomber? What if any of the people kicking the car and smashing the windows had been snipers?
WHAT if it had not been the Prince of Wales, but rather The Queen?
I was relieved at the very strong, no nonsense announcement by the Prime Minister. We will have no truck with thugs who are hell bent on violence and disorder. They will face the full weight of the law. They will be brought to justice, and some will go to prison.
As regards parliamentary democracy, I can well understand the countless liberal democrat voters feeling betrayed; but to keep pronouncing that they will never again vote for their MP is quite bluntly stupid and naive.
Get real.
If the Government was a one party government, then of course you hold the MPs to their Manifesto promises. But with a Coalition Government, the People themselves have moved the goal posts and instructed Parliament through the ballot box to form a Coalition. That means that there will be concessions and compromises. And quite plainly, if narrow minded voters cannot grasp this fundamental democratic principle, then I would say that the Liberal Democrats are most definitely better off without them.
Communism is inflexible and rigid. Democracy is flexible and goes with the flow. When I visited Bosnia in 1998 as a guest of the UN, my host, the British Police Commander of the small town of Bcko explained to me the problem of dealing with this inbred inflexibility with the local police force which had formerly been part of the former Soviet Union.
He explained in candid terms how the officers were unable to use their initiative in dealing with a road side accident because the incident did not fit perfectly one of the examples in the manual; therefore they must obtain prior approval of the commissar some eighty or so kilometres away. It would have been amusing had it not been for the fact that the incident involved very seriously injured members of the public.
To return to Parliament Square. The Police are absolutely right to use the tactic of 'kettling'. In the 1970s we did similarly. We would form a spearhead and the spear would move forward into the crowd, then break to the left and right, encircling the demonstrators left and right, thus enabling us to break up the demonstration, arrest those breaking the law and allowing the peaceful protesters to do just that, to protest peacefully and out of danger. And to assist this, we were flanked by police horses.
Undoubtedly, some police officers will have over-reacted and I would hope that where this proves to be the case beyond all reasonable doubt, not, as some would want, on the lesser proof of the balance of probabilities, then the correct action will be taken and future training will emphasise still more the need to keep control regardless of how one is baited and antagonised by demonstrators.
In defence of the police I will say this. They were working under extreme provocation yesterday. As the BBC Reporter Ben Brown repeatedly reminded us and showed us, it is no flippant matter when blocks of concrete are being broken up and then hurled into police lines. Likewise, the wooden and metal shafts and poles thrown like spears at the mounted officers.
At the day's end, the rule of law prevailed. We have a very strong prime minister and deputy prime minister, the business secretary and the home secretary. We have good government.
And perhaps the greatest example of all is the young man's 'on the street' observation to the BBC as he reported the royal car incident; that at one point the Duchess of Cornwall was smiling and talking to the protesters, and which we saw demonstrated minutes later when they arrived at the Theatre for the Royal Variety Performance.
Their Royal Highnesses kept their cool and that was a tremendous demonstration of leadership and example to the people, the exact same cool demonstrated by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth throughout the War.
Lessons must be learned from this. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has made this clear. So too the Home Secretary. Now let us get on with the country's good governance, a matter which, despite the siren voices here at home, is being reported by the international media.
This is London. This is the mother of parliaments. We will show all how we deal with the events of yesterday and not in the manner of less tolerant regimes.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
9 December 2010
www.ianbradleymarshall.com
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