Ronnie Corbett, 2nd to last delivery on my milk round.
Half pint?
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Didn’t he used to live in Selsdon/Sanderstead/Surrey hills?
Shirley Church Road, “Fairways” was the house name, next door to Addington court golf course, the last call on my round.
I noticed the house was all boarded up when I went passed the other week. I think Anne his wife must have moved out after he died.
He used to drive regularly down Portland road in south Norwood where I went to school. The crossing lady talked about how he would peer over the wheel of his car (probably around '73-75 ish).
Yep, be about right. He had a Rolls Royce with a custom built pedal cluster so he could reach the pedals and of course a custom seat to raise him up a bit.
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all the best people have links with Norwood… 
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Quite. Even the first, truncated, video released made it clear the man intended to provoke. The policeman behaved calmly, politely, patiently and with very good reason to prevent an escalating issue with the march. I’m sure the police would have been equally protective if an ‘openly’ dressed drag queen turned up to saunter through a far-right march.
A longer and more balanced video here:
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If the chief of police is expected to resign everytime an officer says something someone doesnt like, nothing will ever get done. Maybe journalist should resign every time the manipulate the truth.
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Indeed, Norwood Green is lovely
I had more Woodside Green in mind,
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Sorry to revert away from happy woodside walks but I think I can see a pattern of online trolling against the police in UK
Apart from the usual anti-authority activators, I fear foreign actors are busy using social media to encourage elements of society against one another with increasing violence.
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So the Met are arresting people for being “Openly English” now?
How stunning and brave.
I suspect/hope that you have not read the account in full… or else that you have misunderstood the situation…
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I think I understand the situation perfectly.
How you are policed in the U.K. depends on who you are and what you are celebrating/protesting against.
Hmm I don’t think it’s the individual officer’s fault, it’s emblematic of a broader systemic failure and total lack of understanding within leadership.
While I agree it wasn’t the smartest or most thoughtful idea for someone to hang out at a pro-Palestine rally unless they believe in the cause, I think you’ve missed a couple of really key issues here. The Met should be protecting everyone, this bloke has the right to walk around town. If the protest was indeed peaceful in intent, he shouldn’t have to fear for his safety. If it was that violent or volatile, it shouldn’t have been authorised. A parallel could be that women should still be able to walk around the city even if there’s a rally about men’s rights taking place. Cities are for everyone and it’s the role of the police to protect that. And secondly, the framing ‘openly Jewish’ implies that 1. Just being a Jewish person is inherently provocative/antagonistic in nature 2. He should not wear religious clothing items while working around London. Do you think the met would have said that to a woman wearing a hijab walking close by to a ‘free the hostages’ vigil? Doubtful.
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I think you’ve missed the point. He wasn’t there by chance, he was making a point. He didn’t want to wander about London, he wanted to be engaged by the police. He managed this very cleverly. How would the police have dealt with JK Rowling wanting to walk around among a rally for transgender rights? “You are openly JK Rowling. I’ll escort you around the rally” etc.
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Welcome, SJCooper!
Feel free to introduce yourself and tell us about your connection to France.
Sometimes our rights have to be moderated by those who have a duty to protect us. No-one has the right to do anything he wants.
The protest could have been peaceful in intent, but that would prevent malicious people had joined it.
You might find it helpful to watch the whole exchange. It seems to have been nothing more than an unusual choice of words (I would have said “obviously Jewish”) in a much lengthier confrontation in which Gideon Falter (chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism) was hoping to forward his organisation’s agenda in a context in which most reasonable people think Israel’s behaviour is pretty beastly – but, hey, look at me, someone told me wearing a kippah makes me look Jewish.
If he had peaceful intent then he would not have feared for his safety. His ideal scenario would have been to be filmed with blood pouring from a wound. Unfortunately for him, he only got a confected argument.
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Hmm it sounds like you’re imputing intent here, John. Neither of us know what his intent was and I think it’s intellectually dangerous to assume. Anyway, for me what’s important here is the actions and intent of the Met who have a responsibility to understand community sensitivities and fears. The Jewish community is feeling very afraid right now and irrespective of their views on Israel, they have the right to feel safe in London, not told that their presence as a Jewish person at a pro-Palestine rally is antagonistic. We have a serious problem on our hands in terms of the erosion of democracy if someone with a different political view can’t be near a rally for a pro-rights cause. In any case, irrespective of this guy’s views, what is being done in Palestine is the responsibility of the Israeli government, not every Jew worldwide many of whom have probably never even been to Israel. Let’s not forget that the right to freedom of expression comes with the shared responsibility to uphold and acknowledge the rights of others!