And…you have just proved my point by stating that you find my comments ‘insulting’ - I guarantee that you would not have addressed that to James.
End of - I have things to cook and no, not elderly white males although at times that is tempting 
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Sorry. It hasn’t proved anything. I wouldn’t have the slightest hesitation in responding to anyone who I disagreed with. The exceptions being if I knew it might hurt them in some way, or if I didn’t think it was important enough for me to have to express myself.
I don’t think anyone thought this wasn’t the case 
Replies via the internet often give a false impression - and QED the above conversation.
OK, too many posts to respond in detail point by point.
On the court judgement - the judge actually requested that the two parties engage to come to an agreement as to how the vigil could be held safely - this didn’t happen and it appears that was the Met’s decision.
As to coming together as an illegal act - well, technically, maybe. Something of a grey area I would suggest as the common is a public space and there is no rule about being in a public space independent of all the other people who happen to be in that public space - so long as distancing is observed.
As to “you don’t know what it’s like out there, it’s a difficult job” - yes it is but that is not an excuse for doing it badly. Lots of jobs are difficult, people work out how to tackle the problems and solve them so, sorry, just don’t buy this as an excuse.
I thought that there was speculation that he had stated he was a police officer, showing her his warrant card to put her at ease when he approached her.
The fact that the vigil was peaceful up to just after dark ties in well with eyewitness accounts, with at least one that I’ve read who stated the police made the first moves towards heavy handedness, contrasts have been drawn to the policing of the march in Glasgow which had a much more softly softly approach.
The fact remains that Patel and the rest of the government want to increase police flexibility to act just as they diid tonight and on a far flimsier excuse. Yes, they have jumped on the “isn’t it terrible” bandwagon (they are populists after all). Just because the wolf is smiling gently doesn’t stop him being a wolf.
As to the comments regarding the Met - 39% female officers and a female leader or not, the Met has a certain reputation and it isn’t good.
Agree, it doesn’t take an Einsteinian intellect to see that this one had to be handled with kid gloves (note this one each situation should be analysed individually) and that there was a significant danger of very bad optics.
One problem, as pointed out by David Allen Green is that the police have tended to handle what is a public health issue as though it is a public order issue - almost certain to lead to an overzealous approach. It does not help that they have not infrequently cooked up their own questionable interpretation of the guidelines - which, themselves, have a sometimes all too tenuous link to the actual legislation. Couple that with the likes of Cummings getting away scott free having flouted the law in the early part of the pandemic and I’d say they risk having public support for the police at an all time low.
As to “that word” - I thought it was a settlement in Shetland 
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Can you get me a beer as you walk past the fridge?
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I think the answer to that might be " Does Sir want it anally or over one’s head " 
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I don’t know how the police are supposed to deal with a “public health situation”. If people are not supposed to be gathering in a public space, for whatever reason, first you ask them to go, then you tell them to go, finally you will have to apply force. I don’t think there are 44,000 now, the Tories have stripped them back somewhat.
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You forgot the ‘love’ as in “Get us a beer love”
44,000 … I looked it up (of course that includes staff and community officers). And you are dead right in your reasoning - maybe the idea of a “force” is no longer fashionable - now its “service”. Having grown up in inner city Salford, I can say that a bit more “force” is requested by everybody I grew up with. And as usual, nobody likes that idea until that day when they find themselves in the s**t - then they are bloody grateful.
Thought that might be pushing it a bit 
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just makes me wonder if people who run and police the site really should become involved in contentious issues and opinions…would it not make the job easier and transparent !?
it seems quite straight forward to me. Rightly or wrongly the protest was declared by the court as against covid regulations. The police cannot chose what they want to enforce so had to stop it …simple…and when the assembled people refused they had to act. Unfortunate but quite clear cut.
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They’re quite rightly allowed an opinion like the rest of us
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So what is the excuse in the UK?
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Speculation isn’t evidence, unless you were there you don’t know,and again I reiterate we need to be very careful about saying thing like this on lin
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Is that so?
Yes it is
I was hoping for a bit of elaboration there!
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In particular, the Attorney General draws attention to the requirement not to publish material that asserts or assumes the guilt of anyone who has been arrested. That is an issue to be determined by the jury if in due course there is a trial