Our police were traditionally marvelled at by other nations everywhere thanks to the model created by Sir Robert Peel. This was based on trust and mutual compliance, an understanding that our police could be trusted and their actions were based on the consent of the people and not by fear or the arbitrary use of state force.
This model was an outstanding success. For generations it created the most extraordinary levels of trust and respect and was admired globally. But the model is breaking down – and in part this is happening because of political correctness.
Trust is bound to be lost when, after a series of heinous crimes, and with the alleged perpetrators on the loose, the police have consistently failed to disclose identifying characteristics such as ethnicity, which would help the public understand the threat and help apprehend suspects.
The gang rape of a woman outside a church in Epsom, Surrey is but the latest example. In the early hours of Saturday morning a woman in her 20s was followed from a nightclub and then attacked by a group of men. On Wednesday night, dozens of protesters demanded that police release descriptions of the men and details of their ethnicities. The response was to call out the riot squad.
Surrey Police claimed it was still working to identify those suspected of having carried out Saturday’s attack. The force’s spokesman has said that officer didn’t not have “full descriptions of any potential suspects”. The use of the word “full” is doing some heavy lifting here.
This failure in transparency is of course far from unique. It sadly is not the only case where a failure to identify alleged offenders has operated against the public interest. Merseyside Police were severely criticised for not revealing the ethnicity of Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, when he was arrested on suspicion of murder after killing three little girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July 2024.
There is an old saying that heaven is where the chefs are French, the lovers are Italian, the mechanics are German, the organisers are Swiss and the British are the police. But British policing is not what it once was.
Our police were traditionally marvelled at by other nations everywhere thanks to the model created by Sir Robert Peel. This was based on trust and mutual compliance, an understanding that our police could be trusted and their actions were based on the consent of the people and not by fear or the arbitrary use of state force.
This model was an outstanding success. For generations it created the most extraordinary levels of trust and respect and was admired globally. But the model is breaking down – and in part this is happening because of political correctness.
Trust is bound to be lost when, after a series of heinous crimes, and with the alleged perpetrators on the loose, the police have consistently failed to disclose identifying characteristics such as ethnicity, which would help the public understand the threat and help apprehend suspects.
The gang rape of a woman outside a church in Epsom, Surrey is but the latest example. In the early hours of Saturday morning a woman in her 20s was followed from a nightclub and then attacked by a group of men. On Wednesday night, dozens of protesters demanded that police release descriptions of the men and details of their ethnicities. The response was to call out the riot squad.
Surrey Police claimed it was still working to identify those suspected of having carried out Saturday’s attack. The force’s spokesman has said that officer didn’t not have “full descriptions of any potential suspects”. The use of the word “full” is doing some heavy lifting here.
This failure in transparency is of course far from unique. It sadly is not the only case where a failure to identify alleged offenders has operated against the public interest. Merseyside Police were severely criticised for not revealing the ethnicity of Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, when he was arrested on suspicion of murder after killing three little girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July 2024.