One of the few consolations of being 66 years old is that I won't have to spend my whole life in the emerging dystopia. I believe I lived in the best of times.
I had a healthy fear of the police and getting into trouble when I was growing up. This kept most of us on the straight and narrow. Police these days are rude, arrogant and quite pathetic at times. We don’t have any where I live ,but I spoke to one on the phone who ended the call, because I was upset . That says it all.
I am the same age and I agree with you. The emerging dystopia will include compulsory euthanasia of the sick and elderly; I just hope I'll have made my exit by then!
The police no longer turn up to theft crimes under £50 at my local shop. My boss just told them he would deal with them himself and they told him he would be charged with assault for doing so. Is absolutely absurd.
hey mate. lay into em...... you will end up in court. go to crown for a trial by jury, you can choose. they wont convict you, the jury i mean. call the press, no trial at all. dont ask em. they know you could be recording em, they have to say that
Having returned to the UK after over 20 years I am deeply shocked by the lack of presence of the police. They might appear if they are called but lack any gravitas and totally inept.
I live in Spain. 3 years ago I went back for summer as usual and apart from football games I went to I didn't see a copper in 3 months. Oxford, Abingdon, Witney, Cotswolds in general...
Try protesting against lockdown, or try breaking covid regulations. You'll find that the police will appear mob-handed, swiftly and without mercy. The gravitas you mention will land heavily.
@@goldeneddie not where I live, in the second lockdown when sports grounds were closed, our local sports courts were used daily and en masse ,sometimes as many as forty people crowding them, the police didn’t want to know saying young people needed to have fun. The council were the same ,they took a view to keep them open against the government.
@@timothysmcnamara5925 the thing Hitchens couldn't say is that it's harder to police a society that isn't culturally homogenous, although he seemed to allude to it.
If you look at the quality and shape of the 'new' police officers, I am not surprised they go for easy targets rather than do anything difficult or exhausting.
Hitchen’s whole point was that they do the bidding of the politicians/media and oligarchy. Therefore, they don’t chase down anti-maskers by choice, they do whatever they are compelled to do by the aforementioned groups.
1999 - the police are not allowed to 'disturb the rights' of the real criminals so they do not bother, but they can 'get stuck in' when it comes to respectable people not wearing masks and they seem to enjoy this as soon as they are given the green light to go ahead & do what they want.
@Steve Shaw It's a job that seems to attract the bully mentality, so it's not surprising that they're cowardly. They really couldn't make it more obvious that they're only interested in the "easy nick".
Many decades ago, I grew up in an immigrant household in London. We were taught great reverence for the police, their incorruptibility, model behaviour and wisdom. I remember the “police houses” in our neighbourhood and how frequently we saw friendly officers. Eventually though, I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time and ultimately in a station cell. The respect I had been taught for the police proved every bit as accurate and helped me to engage them, in the best way. The investigating officers quickly realised my predicament and helped me out of the situation, all the while scaring me enough, that I never ever thought about being on the wrong side of the law again, even inadvertently. I now see the mercantile nature of what the police force has become, in many ways it’s run like a corporation (without public responsibility or moral guidance), subservient to “the market” which invariably means politicians, the media and the oligarchy. Hitchens is a fountain of knowledge and wisdom on this matter and has hit the nail on the head, brute force and ignorance simply doesn’t work, prevention is better than a cure.
1999 well summed up of what's happening now. I think like many service professionals of years ago, they might have actually cared to make sure that teens didn't come back. They went after the real criminals in those days
You made a lot of great points. Besides being a private political army for the state they do also seem to mostly act in the capacity of revenue collection officers instead of actualy what police always used to be which was a force to prevent and investigate crime.
I completely agree, I joined the WRAF in 1972, by the time my Husband was demobilised in 2010, the force was unrecognisable. Mostly the uniformed where still well trained, though it was considered more of a 9-5 job by many. However the lowest of the civil servants held an inordinate amount of power, through ridiculous PC Rules and box ticking quotas. 4 of our adult kids are living in the dictatorship of Melbourne. 1 is a close protection fire arms police officer (ministerial & Royal) with the Met, and 1 is a senior prison officer at Wormwood scrubs. I truly could weep at how destruction the woke joke, liberal left, green 💩 and current immigration situation is, an oh the lables and identity politics. Stick and bloody stones etc. People have been indoctrinated by the main stream media and the shouty mouthy left. Empty vessel’s make the most noise, has never been more true.
@@beverlyfletcher4458 I wasn’t quite brave enough to share some of the more shameful details, but my God did I learn a lesson, that sadly is no longer available.
I live in Bulgaria. The police know the local troublemakers and are easily contacted and eager to help. It must have been like that in the UK many years ago. I hope it never changes here.
In Bulgaria they don’t have such social disorder, as the UK does, also mostly the Police are in their own neighbourhood which leads to massive corruption and they generally control the crime, profiling from it.
My father served in the RUC in Northern Ireland for almost 40 years. Between 1976 and 1984, he was the senior constable in a village police station, manned by one other full time officer, and a number of part time reserve officers. I remember meeting them many days on foot patrolling the village while when out riding my bike as a young teen! My father and his like minded colleagues believed in this type of policing, where their role was to maintain peace, provide a visible presence to the village community, and interact with the local youth to keep them out of the clutches of the local paramilitaries. This was all happening during a very difficult period in the "troubles". We, as a family, lived in married quarters in the police station during his tenure in the village. The station in which we lived was surrounded by a 15 foot fence and one inch bulletproof glass. There was always a constant threat of terrorist attack, but it was a fabulous time in my life. Today, the police station in which my father was stationed, and where we lived, is gone, replaced by a housing development. There is no local police presence, as there is a centralized location in the nearest large town. Very sad, but ultimately in line with what Peter has stated.
Thank you for your fathers dedication. Decent people like him were betrayed by Chris Patten and his destruction of a dedicated world standard police force in a desire to please the transgressors.
My father was a policeman in the Met between 1960 and 1990. He once told me that the best time was between 1960 and 1975, after that things went downhill - in particular a lack of respect for the police. Read into that what you will.
@Dave Doherty Why, because he won’t give the Neo-Stasi a Free Pass? I guess him living and travelling within Warsaw Pact and especially him living within the Soviet Union, has given him a perspective on Marxism? That and the fact that he used to also be one, also helped . . .
@Dave Doherty Yeah, but you’re like this about him because he doesn’t give the Police a Free Pass, because he calls them all out on their BS? When the Police start stopping people and arresting people, for not having any (“Papers Please?”) Vaccine Passport’s to go shopping for Food, Drink and other Essentials? From that point onwards? You can never again, go claim that there’s such a thing as a good Police Officer within any UK Police Force anymore. The was a point between when German Civilians were still actually innocent, about Hitler and his Death Camps and then? When they found out and didn’t care or do anything about it and still joined the Party, still wore the Nazi Pin, still sang all the songs and still yelled out that certain salute? When the Neo-Stasi start arresting people, for trying to buy Food for themselves and their Families? There will NO LONGER, be an “Innocent” or Good Police Officer . . . surely even you must accept this fact?
Not so long as each step is taken to secure the global totalitarian state. At least in the west. The rest of the world is far more conscious of what is happening and/or have lived through the same terror in their own lifetime and will not allow it to happen again so soon. But the west is just beginning to ramp up the complete transition to dystopia. The censorship, the rewriting of history, the breakdown of the family, the travel restrictions, vaccine passports, the fear and stress level in the population, the totally ideological education system. Each of these processes is well under way and the population is proving very compliant. Australia, NZ and Canada are the vanguard of this process. As newer and smaller countries they are easier to control. But the UK, western europe and the US will follow. If you are familiar with books like 'The Gulag Archipelago', what happened in the cultural revolutions of the USSR and China and other totalitarian states in the 20th century is what is coming to the west....
@@silverlight2004db I see all that is happening and I know it looks grim; but I also have hope. Home and family have never been more important, ironically, as it is being torn apart right now. Take care.
@@silverlight2004db Very true and I have the same scary assessment along with many others. These countries all follow each other and follow suit. Or, as some say, the globalists control them all. Anyway, I was looking for a new job today and had to enter my name, number and preferred pronoun. Insanity is attacking us from all sides.
Martin shot and killed a young lad when he was running away from his house. OK, so Martin had been burgled many times and was clearly frustrated with the situation but that was no excuse for shooting him. In fact, if the Sun hadn't campaigned, Martin wouldn't have been released from jail and wouldn't have been able to sell his story for 100k. Martin's case is complicated.
@@hezkyden (Sigh). Let’s recap what happened, shall we? Martin was alone. He had been robbed repeatedly. The community responsible are known for having shotguns and illegal firearms. The police refused to do anything. WHAT was he supposed to do? Leave his property, do nothing, or even get killed like a good citizen? Just let criminals do whatever they please to your property or person, is that what we’re saying? The Chief Constable, Ken Williams, was so crass as to state that citizens should “shout for help” if something like this happened. Metropolitan imbecile! The nearest neighbour was bloody miles away well out of earshot. As to the Sun, they only reflected the local fury arising from this complete failure of the law to protect Martin. In Norfolk, if *anybody* felt sorry for the two criminals then they were very quiet and in a minuscule minority over it. The cash Martin got for his story was frankly the least anybody could have done after all he’d had to endure! Had he even received any recompense or insurance for everything that had been stolen? What happened to his farm when he was banged up, did anybody look after it and pay the bills? Again: had the police BOTHERED to do their duty - their DUTY, let’s repeat that - then none of this should have escalated.
@@mikereger1186 ( Double sigh). All you enunciate in the 1st, 3rd, 4th paragraphs I wouldn't disagree with. Your opinion as expressed in your 2nd paragraph I covered in my post; ''OK, so Martin had been burgled many times and was clearly frustrated with the situation but that was no excuse for shooting him.'' In the final paragraph you claim Martin deserved his blood money but, if he hadn't killed that youth he wouldn't have been convicted and his farm wouldn't have been neglected. As difficult as his situation was, there were better ways of dealing with it than shooting and killing a youth who was running away. If the boy had been inside the house and Martin had come across the lad and then shot him, then he'd have been justified.
Listen man, I arrived from Italy in 1989 and it was indeed a great country. The decline, in my opinion, started roundabout 2004-2005. I despair for my English daughters (and my soon-to-be-born son), the country they will inherit is a far cry from the country I fell in love with 32 years ago....
I'm so depressed after watching this Peter Hitchens interview. I'm 61 and was a child who saw Bobbies on the beat. We were taught respect for the law. Although it never happened to me my mum and dad made it clear I'd get a clip round the ear if a policeman caught me misbehaving. My sister went to grammar school in 1968. When it was my turn in 1971 all the grammar schools has gone. How have we let the feeble minded cretins running our once great nation do this to us over the last 4 or 5 decades?
@@Foxglove963 Were they charged with anything, like theft, corruption, embezelment? Or were they the 'tough' experienced ones who kept the crims in order but got 'socially replaced' for being not 'woke' enough ?
Brilliant, could listen to these two, all day long. Peter Hitchins speaks with such pure common sense and I agree with everything he states, unfortunately it does not look good for our future.
You are making the fundamental error of assuming that the government simply wants to do the right thing and is merely getting things wrong out of incompetence. The reality is that the situation is the way it is because that's exactly what the government wants.
@@Dabhach1 I did for a bit but whilst I agree with his assertion about the police becoming an agent of the state his reasoning is way off. ... E2@...his view of jails in the UK is completely crazy too
Hitchens was on the nail with every word he said. I am certain he is his late brothers equal. I considered joining the police from the RAF but my father, ex-army and ex-police, convinced me to re-think and the reasons he gave echoed what Peter said here. The premise that the police were once policing for the people but are now policing for the state is a shocking truth that had not occurred to me but having heard this, rings loud and true.
An old man now, I was once a Plod. Back in the day when, with my ex Army Boots, I trod many a dark town shaking hands with door handles and keeping the Queens Peace. I was sworn to protect life and property. Not be a cheap welfare worker etc. For protection I had a whistle and a truncheon. I resigned when the Police became another arm of the state. Sad, I enjoyed the job and thought - back then - we made a difference. Interaction with the Public was everything back then. My wife was a Nurse and we lived in a Police House pretty much there for all 24/7. Many times the wife would answer the door and do the paper work. Why it all disappeared is simple, because Politicians love to play with things and its easy to mess things up.... Harder to realise that if it is not broken do not fix it. All I can say now, looking back, is that a once peaceful and much happier country is now a very much angrier and less harmonious place. I feel for the kids who will never know such a place and it seems know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Yes, it was a much happier place...not so long ago.
Thank you Sir to both you and your wife for true service, whay you say is so correct, you did make a difference. As a patriot to the bone, I now feel an alien in my own country, be sure that what worked well will never be allowed back. Let good people keep their own high standards in spite of, not because of, 'modernisation'.
Thank you Peter for you remarks and I concur. I was recently in Ypres at Tyne Cot cemetery and I wondered what they would make of it. Such a shame what has become of us. The best regards to you and yours sir.
Spot on - Mr Hitchens. I recall police and police women on "the Beat" up town. Their mere presence gave a sense of security to everyone. In recent times, I have seen them excluding the public from the CBD, armed with automatic firearms, guarding a minorities prayer session, which was under no threat. It was all theatre, which implied the community was dangerous and untrustworthy. Insulting in the extreme. But now I see police as Government thugs who imagine the law to be whatever they want it to be on every occasion that suits them. they are prejudiced, biased, inconsistent and untrustworthy. Now the cars are "rainbow cars" so they are political as well. They are a disgrace.
I can still remember the time when a few of us kids decided to go scrumping we went came out from the orchard pockets full of apples there he stood the policemen with a smile on his face. We froze the worst moment of my life. Being marched home to be confronted by my parents no question they were going to punish me. I had to wash tea dishes for as many weeks that were in my pocket. 3 weeks washing tea dishes and I got the message. Now 84 I still remember that event.
Im 61 and i wouldnt want to be young today im so glad i was born when i was, totally depressed with where society is going its broken no doubt the real problem is i think this is part of the plan .
@@AndySmith-lq2di Completely agree. I am a good bit older than you, and I remember a conversation with a guy in my office of work around about 2010 and he said 'I reckon we have had the best years'. Even more true now.
I left the police in the 90s, and so much of this interview chimes with me. The police officer used to be the personification of the law, and the old uniform amplified this point. Officers now look much more militarised, but more than this, male officers are unshaven, have long hair (certainly in Gloucester), call everyone 'mate. They no longer wear headress when outside. I walked the beat and interacted with the local community. People saw the police in operation and could talk to a real person. Officers no longer have the time to do this. We have lost touch with what matters.
Prisons are full because the national population of the U.K. has significantly increased and we had an open border policy allowing anyone within the E.U. entry.
There was an upsurge of raging mobs destroying statues for George Floyd, but I see nowhere the same rage for the stabbing of MP David Amess. Does it depend on which race were victims and killers in both cases?
@@johnday6392and one more rethoric question, just in case the "mobs" had taken a more moderate approach to Mr Amess stabbing, are there any candles burning or "imagine" singing for a truly conservative religious MP?? We are gathering speed towards the precipice from which the Western civilization will commit suicide. And just in case we might hesitate in the last minute the media will chase us up to the very edge to push for the final jump.
@@johnday6392 Yes.... If there was an epidemic of MPs being mercilessly slaughtered for no reason by the police perhaps we would have "MPs lives matter" (instead it was a terrible shocking tragedy that isnt the result of institutional wickedness going back years and years)
We are a "Dying Nation" 40 years of Weak Leaders and this is the result. This Country is no longer worth Fighting for and as a Veteran I would far rather declare myself a "Conscientious Objector" do a stint in jail for making that choice... Doing the Hounourable, Decent & Morally correct thing no longer counts in Today's Society, Sad but True!!
This is happening because there is very little honour in parliament, do they do what the people vote them in to do, no, do they they tell vicious lies to fool us, yes they do, there is the trouble with the country, career politicians.
Mr Hitchens, as a retired PO I must say you possess a remarkable degree of insight into what has sadly gone so wrong with the police service,a truly remarkable insight.
The police are not the only part of society changing and not the most problematic. The electorate have rarely been more moronic, lazy and dependent. We now have justice professionals actively realizing injustice, and unskilled, inept, authoritarian, unscrupulous leaders throughout contemporary organisations.
@@bikerbisht110 agreed, it's a shame. The main reason I remind myself of this reality, is it gives me a level of consciousness of possible adversity people might be experiencing, a consciousness I hope to hold on to.
Such an important topic. One of the things that are eroding in our society with most not noticing. I feel that so much police resources and technology and now directed against ordinary citizens, rather than criminals, when they misstep… almost a Nintendo game on our roads these days with a variety of cameras and surveillance traps…it’s hard to just focus on safety
The state became partners with the criminals a long time ago. Only recently did they stop pretending otherwise. They pick on the general public because there is no one to stand up for them, Parliament least of all.
@@pippip8744 Parliament has been steadily rubber-stamping more and more legislation to enable the police/judicial/social madness, from hate crimes, to trans issues. MPs may think they are immune to accountability for the legislation they have voted for and pre-existing, that needs to change quickly.
@@pippip8744 I feel that the silent majority just grin and bear it and put up with the new sanctions as they just want to get on with their lives. I don't know how they are to be awakened
@@yoelmarson4049 But the rub is that 'getting on with their lives' is increasingly problematic when these profound changes bite. The one is intrinsically linked to the other. This is what they don't understand, and is also a tragedy as it is a result of the changes being so obliquely invidious.
This statement is incorrect.. its worse than that, in that, the guy down the Co-Op can tell you where to stand and what to wear on your face.. I wont comply any more..
There is a cause of radical change in this country, its called the career politician. they get into a seat, stay there for 20 to 30 years they become bigger than the parliament and the people they pretend to represent, and then we have an elected dictatorship, like we have had for years.
People overseas should look at the Victorian police (state). They have a brutal, paramilitary force, that the state government has unleashed on an unarmed public. Australia is now a totalitarian police state, with Victoria leading the way, and I doubt elections will make any difference to that. The politicians are controlled by other forces. Morrison is now the front man for the fake social media "whistle blower" and his job is to call for more censorship. He is using the cover of "protecting our children". What a joke, when they want to do such an immoral act as to jab children with experimental vaccines. The coup has been very successful and resistance minimal and fear and compliance now reign supreme. It's only going to get worse in Australia. The other countries will probably fare better, given their higher intestinal fortitude and intelligence quotients.
Frankly I was in the police from the mid 1970s until 1999 and my experience of policing was very traditional. We paraded 12 and 8 were on foot with the other 4 in cars. It worked. It did not change ,in my experience , until the late 1980s.
If you are looking for a top mgt job in the police force, I urge you to self-identify as a disabled lesbian or trans woman of dark colour. It doesn't really matter if you are any of these things, so long as you self-identify on the application form. There is no objective criteria for identifying who is lesbian or who is pre-transition trans etc. All that matters is what you call yourself on the application form.
One of things I've noticed, especially with the policing of demonstrations, is that there are 2 different police cultures. There are the regular constables, a shrinking and impotent culture that now focuses greatly on buerocracy but none the less retains the aspect of 'local constable'/'normal person in uniform.' Then there are the PSU certified constables, either in a permanent support unit or amongst the other constables. These guys seem to have a much greater proportion of Jackboots; the Territorial Support Group in the Met are notorious now. These guys will be sent to your protest, so long as the management structure of your local constabulary deems your protest 'unwanted.' If you're a protest in line with their ideology however, you can expect a friendlier local constable to accompany you.
“2 Tier Policing” is a thing, when White-Left and Marxists of Colour of; Antifa/BLM, get left alone without challenge by these Neo-Stasi? Because their Leftwaffe Politics are basically the same and the “Police’s” Bosses, in fact they all “Take a Knee” instead! Yet, anyone else, who so much as Protests Lockdown’s, Open Border Gimme-Gration and the Vaccine Passport Protests to come . . . . . . you’ll see a completely different “Attitude” shown towards them instead!
@@3879keith 🤔 "territ" surely? 😂 I see where you're going with it though. I do think we need a resource in the police to effectively be there to beat up bad people; but the definition of bad people has shifted to align with this ideology that has captured the police management structure. Perhaps I am opening myself up to tyranny by being permissive of this though. I just think that some situations need violence; I'd rather the jackboots win that skirmish and not gangs of rapists!
@@Excommunicated-ei1ep exactly the point I'm making! I think these different causes are getting entirely different police sent to attend the demonstrations.
Their actions depends on whether the protest is for the people or for the benefit of the four big investment firms that own/run the World. "Climate Activists," probably without realising, work for the agenda of shutting the people of the Worlds down for the benefit of those companies and their shills.
I dont think it matters if Peter is right or wrong, The facts are being given to us, we are well on the way to a dictatorship. This country, and the rest of the western world, they need a few things in place first. I think the first rung on the ladder will be the abolition of cash.
I'm a great fan of both Peters. I had a positive experience with the police recently which I wanted to share. Due to a nuisance individual causing disturbances at the front door; I called 999 twice in two days. The police came within minutes and sorted the whole thing twice; finally telling him if he returned he wd be arrested. He did not return. I was very impressed and said so.
I remember watching Ken Clarke saying prison does not work, he does not get it! bring back corporal and capital punishment, prison should be solitary and porridge and mashed potatoes no mobile phones and visits if well behaved
Peter was on the mark - those of us who remember the village bobby and the police house know exactly what he was talking about. In those days you respected the Police - not now as they no longer represent the public.
@@fionagregory9376 Beards I can tolerate. But I cannot -- cannot -- abide the sight of police officers with tattoos. Especially those hideous sleeve tattoos or spiders webs you see on the necks of some people.
They look very scruffy these days , I had an Uncle who had served in the Grenadier Guards when he left he joined the police force from the age of 21 until he retired from the force at the age of 55 , he and his fellow officers where very smart no tattoos above the collar or below cuffs on display , short back and sides , and they were inspected before they went out on the beat , look at them now disgraceful no respect .
Yes they do indeed protect the state and the privileged this is so obvious if you have ever had any recent dealings with them, it is a vile situation and one that you can fall foul of all so easily.
He has been brilliant and ignored for so many years - I don't think by coincidence. I encourage all commenters to work their way through his lectures over time. They are a pleasure to listen to.
Our police used to be so much better than continental police who were scruffy uneducated thugs. Standards have fallen so much nowadays that our police force are no different from their continental counterparts. Having lived in France and Spain many yeard ago i can concur with Peter Hitchin.
I was working for a police force over half a century ago. May I confirm the accuracy of this discussion, the evolving developments are terrifying. We are evolving into a police state by 'salmi slicing' away our rights replacing them with a totalitarian concept of control.
One of the most interesting things I've ever seen from PH. Not that he's necessarily right about what policing *should* be (preventative? not sure) but he's sure as hell right about what it is in danger of becoming (he'd say it has become that already, perhaps correctly - but that would take the compliance of the general public. The rest of the country aren't quite sure they're living in a police state yet, and there might be quite a lot of trouble if people thought that was happening. The police wouldn't be able to do much if there was a sufficient level of distrust of them)
As an EMT in Glasgow back in the 70s to 2000, I noticed a change in the policeman's attitude to wrongdoers and victims. An incident that frightened me was when an armed policeman was eager to shoot a siege perpetrator, how can this man be a policeman I thought. Say no more, policemen are not defenders of our community anymore.
As always the great Peter Hitchens leaves me feeling a good deal more educated but also equally a good deal more depressed. Great hosting by Peter as always.
Great, so thought-provoking. "Defence of habitation" issue...that was news to me. His comments regarding the universities are true, and very scary. Having listened further, after the above paragraph, I have found this video has thoroughly alarmed me. Quote: "There is no point in calling 999 most of the time". Hell.
Interesting that Hitchens mentions 1984 as the year that everything changed....... I noted it myself, having read 1984 as a teen, I was alive to the changes. That was the year I began to plot my escape from the clutches of all that was coming. In hindsight, what everyone considered me mad for doing at the time, has turned out to be the most astute thing I've ever done. I do reckon poverty the mother of invention, for so it was in my case. Unless you're born stupid and prove unwilling to learn....in which case there's nothing to be done about that.
I remember otherwise. For me the big changes came in the 90's. Even in the 80's in London, when there actually was something real to fear...the IRA...the Police had a completely different relationship with the public.
@UC71hI_2QR0A0Q1aNO4R6u3A I was still in school during that but yup, that's when I remember noticing the change too. Probably wasn't just police from other areas either, there were reports from people who saw their son in police uniform when their son wasn't a policeman, he was in the army. Not sure that was ever substantiated but then the government "investigated" themselves didn't they. Prior to that they were seen on the streets, everyone knew the local bobby and they knew the lay of the land and who were the troublemakers in their area because they were involved with the community. My grandparents had a great deal of respect for the local bobbies and if you misbehaved you'd get threatened with a visit, empty threat of course but as a small kid you paid attention. They said hello if you passed one in the street because they used to be approachable. After this is when I first started hearing them referred to far more commonly as "pigs" rather than "bobbies" too. I tend to associate cops with wasps, in that I have a similar reaction - they probably won't hurt you if you leave them alone but there's always that stay away from me feeling and you certainly wouldn't approach one voluntarily and even those carboard cut outs they used to stick up everywhere were off-putting. That's because nowadays it's even worse. They not only hold themselves aloof from the public but their interactions tend to be highly authoritarian and all too often ignorant of the law they're meant to uphold. Woe betide if you point out their ignorance to them when what they seem to want is kowtowing to their ignorantly arbitrary authority. Talk back and they're far more likely to double down rather than stand corrected. Throw in the ideological and political bias they exhibit too and they are no longer fit for the purpose they're allegedly there serve. Not that the police were unbiased back in the good old days either but as serving members of a community their reputation mattered. Not so now, where you are never likely to encounter the same one ever again. The police do tend to attract a certain type of individual, always have. A couple of kids I was at school with became coppers, one of whom was the school bully. Well schools are kicking out a lot more far-left ideologues and narcissistic individuals who want to enforce their world view to the detriment of fairness and justice. That's who the police are now attracting and, furthermore, encouraging with such things as diversity managers and other discriminatory practices. I've seen some extremely discriminatory acts by coppers over the years, with my own two eyes, to the point that I would not approach them except under specific circumstances. Last time I did was because I saw an obviously drunk/drugged guy wandering all over a dual carriageway late at night, raining and he was barely visible so I got my passenger to call them for me to speak to, to get him off the road. If not life and death or required for insurance purposes though, I'd be very reluctant to involve them when what's the point. They don't solve crimes or catch bad guys and since I'm a straight white male, I can expect their worst service or even a disservice.
I remember otherwise too. The 1970s were a very much better time, the eighties marked the start of a huge change in everything. My grandad was an inspector in Nottingham police, and I knew him - he was the original Dixon of Dock Green who helped everyone and clipped little kids round the earhole. My mother was one of the first women police officers in WW2.
14:45 It's hard to meet a police officer nowadays. 15:03 They're gone from the streets because they *_serve a different master_* ! 15:08 Remarkably they pop out in droves for demonstrations, and you wonder where they keep them :D 15:29 If the entire force were abducted by aliens, how long 'til you realized? This reminds me of: _If a tree falls in the forest, and noone is there to hear it - has it really fallen?_
What Hitchens says at 12:23 is something I saw coming decades ago. And never have I been sorrier to have correctly foreseen the end of a trend. He notes that "there was a period of time, _which seems to have come to an end because people don't dare,"_ (emphasis added) when people tried to defend their homes from burglars, and were aggressively prosecuted for it. This period has come to an end, not because the British government has given up on this appallingly, egregiously, unconscionably bad idea, but because the subjects have finally gotten the message and now don't dare resist the criminals. I said, back in the '90s, that the message this sends to law-abiding citizens is this: if, through no fault of your own, if through circumstances entirely beyond your control, some lowlife thug decides to pick you out of the rest of population to be his victim, your tranquil, happy life as you knew it is over. You're screwed no matter how it goes from here. Either the thug will victimize you, or if you dare resist, the state will swoop down _and victimize you even worse._ After all the intruder in your home will just deprive you of your property and your peace of mind, and perhaps leave you with a few injuries from which to recover. The state will take your freedom away from you. Well, the message has been received. The Briton's home is no longer his castle. I would not live in a country where such a state of things is allowed to exist. That is no way for a free people to live.
Performance related pay was the nail in the police coffin, it didn’t matter what an officer arrested you for as long as they managed to get the required number of arrests and so they went for the easiest arrests possible.
@Dave Doherty I was told by an ex forces guy, who was in the army in the late seventies that many of the men arriving in coaches were actually squaddies in police uniforms, as the police had no experience of riot control, but the guys who had several tours of Northern Ireland had.
He must be looking at something else... the police appear to do nothing e.g. M25 protests ( leave it to the people) and European nations cup final (leave it to the £10 an hour stewards)
Extraordinary interview, sober, thought provoking, factual…..yes, depressing but I will get over this, however the clarity provided will remain with me 👏🙏🏴😁
@@lexiburrows8127 My father was in the police, joined about 1963, they nipped in shops to get food, they do need to eat but I agree if that’s the only time you see them now you wonder what the hell are they actually doing. I had dealings with the police a few years ago on a serious matter and they washed their hands of it, we left it at the end because we decided it was a battle we couldn’t win.
When Robert Peel announced his intention to set up a met police force he faced massive opposition from a Victorian public that was fearful of an unaccountable bully boy police state. They were a smart lot, those Victorians.
A suggestion: Abolish all insurance, and institute state compensation for all crimes, administered by the police from taxation. The police to investigate all crime, replacing insurance investigations - the more successfully they investigate and the more they do to prevent crime the more able they are to meet payout targets set bay government. Not this police force of course - we need to start again!
My local police station closed down some years back. As Mr Hitchens points out, the only time the police are seen, is when they zoom by in their cars. TBH, watching this video makes me think about the other services we all have to pay for. As well as no visible police presence, we have numerous pot holed roads, a health service that’s very difficult to access, no street cleaning, limited refuse collections (I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been sitting in traffic trying to get to a civic amenity centre) a local council that keeps taking more money from me for less services. They also have big plans to concentrate over large parts of the green belt where I live, despite the fact that the vast majority of the local population are against this. There is something really rotten and corrupt going on in this country. It’s all leading to more misery and social/economic decline for future generations.
A year ago I might have been impressed by this, but more and more I felt whilst watching this interview that Hitchens is still trapped in old paradigms and is not up to speed on the new world realities. Possibly because he decided to take the vaccination, it is now its easier for him to not engage so much with the tyranny, and human rights abuses that are increasingly taking place on a global scale. The issues of vaccine passports, medical tyranny and the accompanying over policing and state over reach that comes with all of this was largely ignored, when the reality is this is by far the biggest issue of our time, and ultimately ties in to everything else that was being discussed.
Knew long ago that Britain had become a totalitarian. Police state and the police segued from serving the people to serving the state. It's why I am now an expat.
@@TheGava4 what? With Vax passes and the kind of restrictions Mark Drake(onian)ford put in place? I remember the aisles of covered up goods in supermarkets because they were 'none essential'.
I agree with your statement I'm a EXPACK myself! The British people are dreaming if you THINK the country is yours ha ha its far from THAT! Dreamers nothing but a bunch of dreamers?.
Informative as ever by two people I have up most respect for . Intelligent conversation at its best , on topics that affect everyone. We have a problem to which may argue against , but we are definitely in a space that is fundamental at odds with the individual . And which has the potential to bring down even its most enthusiastic followers .
One of the few consolations of being 66 years old is that I won't have to spend my whole life in the emerging dystopia. I believe I lived in the best of times.
I had a healthy fear of the police and getting into trouble when I was growing up. This kept most of us on the straight and narrow. Police these days are rude, arrogant and quite pathetic at times. We don’t have any where I live ,but I spoke to one on the phone who ended the call, because I was upset . That says it all.
I am the same age and I agree with you. The emerging dystopia will include compulsory euthanasia of the sick and elderly; I just hope I'll have made my exit by then!
You are undoubtedly right.
@@adoremus4014 Any children and grandchildren?
@@imochonai5723 Irrelevant question. Stay on topic.
The police no longer turn up to theft crimes under £50 at my local shop. My boss just told them he would deal with them himself and they told him he would be charged with assault for doing so.
Is absolutely absurd.
If people voted for new parties like UKIP and stopped voting LibLabCon, none of this would have happened.
Yet they , the police, are the ones who are most prone to assault.
hey mate. lay into em...... you will end up in court. go to crown for a trial by jury, you can choose. they wont convict you, the jury i mean. call the press, no trial at all. dont ask em. they know you could be recording em, they have to say that
turn your brain on mate
You know where the CCTV is, get them off CCTV and pulp them
Having returned to the UK after over 20 years I am deeply shocked by the lack of presence of the police. They might appear if they are called but lack any gravitas and totally inept.
I live in Spain. 3 years ago I went back for summer as usual and apart from football games I went to I didn't see a copper in 3 months. Oxford, Abingdon, Witney, Cotswolds in general...
Try protesting against lockdown, or try breaking covid regulations. You'll find that the police will appear mob-handed, swiftly and without mercy. The gravitas you mention will land heavily.
@@goldeneddie yep and Owen Jones will post a video on his twitter captioned ''the far right THE FAR RIGHT THE FAR RIGHT''
Conspicuous in their absence.
@@goldeneddie not where I live, in the second lockdown when sports grounds were closed, our local sports courts were used daily and en masse ,sometimes as many as forty people crowding them, the police didn’t want to know saying young people needed to have fun. The council were the same ,they took a view to keep them open against the government.
My experience of the police is that they are lazy, unprofessional and willing to abuse their powers at the drop of a hat.
@turtle flipper They come out of communities where that is the norm
They’ve also been through “ reframing” training,therefore they come into the job with a dangerous indoctrination…
they go for low hanging fruit. if they think they'll be seriously assault by large numbers they avoid.
The police themselves are a product of this Lord of the Flies type society.
@@timothysmcnamara5925 the thing Hitchens couldn't say is that it's harder to police a society that isn't culturally homogenous, although he seemed to allude to it.
Catching violent criminals is so risky. It's much easier to flex on non-violent people not wearing a mask.
If you look at the quality and shape of the 'new' police officers, I am not surprised they go for easy targets rather than do anything difficult or exhausting.
Get paid pretty well for it, too.
Hitchen’s whole point was that they do the bidding of the politicians/media and oligarchy. Therefore, they don’t chase down anti-maskers by choice, they do whatever they are compelled to do by the aforementioned groups.
1999 - the police are not allowed to 'disturb the rights' of the real criminals so they do not bother, but they can 'get stuck in' when it comes to respectable people not wearing masks and they seem to enjoy this as soon as they are given the green light to go ahead & do what they want.
@Steve Shaw It's a job that seems to attract the bully mentality, so it's not surprising that they're cowardly. They really couldn't make it more obvious that they're only interested in the "easy nick".
Many decades ago, I grew up in an immigrant household in London. We were taught great reverence for the police, their incorruptibility, model behaviour and wisdom. I remember the “police houses” in our neighbourhood and how frequently we saw friendly officers. Eventually though, I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time and ultimately in a station cell. The respect I had been taught for the police proved every bit as accurate and helped me to engage them, in the best way. The investigating officers quickly realised my predicament and helped me out of the situation, all the while scaring me enough, that I never ever thought about being on the wrong side of the law again, even inadvertently.
I now see the mercantile nature of what the police force has become, in many ways it’s run like a corporation (without public responsibility or moral guidance), subservient to “the market” which invariably means politicians, the media and the oligarchy.
Hitchens is a fountain of knowledge and wisdom on this matter and has hit the nail on the head, brute force and ignorance simply doesn’t work, prevention is better than a cure.
1999 well summed up of what's happening now. I think like many service professionals of years ago, they might have actually cared to make sure that teens didn't come back. They went after the real criminals in those days
You made a lot of great points. Besides being a private political army for the state they do also seem to mostly act in the capacity of revenue collection officers instead of actualy what police always used to be which was a force to prevent and investigate crime.
I completely agree, I joined the WRAF in 1972, by the time my Husband was demobilised in 2010, the force was unrecognisable. Mostly the uniformed where still well trained, though it was considered more of a 9-5 job by many. However the lowest of the civil servants held an inordinate amount of power, through ridiculous PC Rules and box ticking quotas. 4 of our adult kids are living in the dictatorship of Melbourne. 1 is a close protection fire arms police officer (ministerial & Royal) with the Met, and 1 is a senior prison officer at Wormwood scrubs. I truly could weep at how destruction the woke joke, liberal left, green 💩 and current immigration situation is, an oh the lables and identity politics. Stick and bloody stones etc. People have been indoctrinated by the main stream media and the shouty mouthy left. Empty vessel’s make the most noise, has never been more true.
What a brave statement: thank you for posting, and you are absolutely correct.
@@beverlyfletcher4458 I wasn’t quite brave enough to share some of the more shameful details, but my God did I learn a lesson, that sadly is no longer available.
I live in Bulgaria. The police know the local troublemakers and are easily contacted and eager to help. It must have been like that in the UK many years ago. I hope it never changes here.
Mostly arriving daily in boats across the channel to disappear to wherever. They are protected and excused by the liberals.
Well if your part of the EU, then the continental style of policing will eventually be upon you.
Same in Australia as UK - sorry, S. Giles, but I suspect Bulgaria will change, too!
In Bulgaria they don’t have such social disorder, as the UK does, also mostly the Police are in their own neighbourhood which leads to massive corruption and they generally control the crime, profiling from it.
I'm in Sofia running a Scottish Cultural centre. Where do you live?
I was a police officer in the 60s and 70s and agree entirely with everything Peter Hitchens has said here.
you could stick the boot in and plant drugs,,,, much easier back then. less work, no oversight, full pension... the good old days
@@paulbmonks you must have been in a different world from me if that’s what you experienced
@@tom5216 Dont tell me your another ex cop with misguided virtues,
@@steadyeddie639 Criminal record ?
Or selfish wannabe who wants to do what he wants
@@paulbmonks Criminal record or selfish wannabe who wants to do what he wants
I was burgled in 2014, they could not even be bothered to review any CCTV footage around the housing block.
Burgled*
Someone tried to kick my door in and they left a muddy boot print on my white door. Needless to say the police weren't interested.
Couldn't be bothered is the mantra of todays police.
My father served in the RUC in Northern Ireland for almost 40 years. Between 1976 and 1984, he was the senior constable in a village police station, manned by one other full time officer, and a number of part time reserve officers. I remember meeting them many days on foot patrolling the village while when out riding my bike as a young teen! My father and his like minded colleagues believed in this type of policing, where their role was to maintain peace, provide a visible presence to the village community, and interact with the local youth to keep them out of the clutches of the local paramilitaries. This was all happening during a very difficult period in the "troubles". We, as a family, lived in married quarters in the police station during his tenure in the village. The station in which we lived was surrounded by a 15 foot fence and one inch bulletproof glass. There was always a constant threat of terrorist attack, but it was a fabulous time in my life. Today, the police station in which my father was stationed, and where we lived, is gone, replaced by a housing development. There is no local police presence, as there is a centralized location in the nearest large town. Very sad, but ultimately in line with what Peter has stated.
Thank you for your fathers dedication. Decent people like him were betrayed by Chris Patten and his destruction of a dedicated world standard police force in a desire to please the transgressors.
Thanks for this posting.
My father was a policeman in the Met between 1960 and 1990. He once told me that the best time was between 1960 and 1975, after that things went downhill - in particular a lack of respect for the police. Read into that what you will.
Whittle and Hitchens in conversation like this almost restores my faith in human nature. If only everyone were as they are.
@Dave Doherty Name some more of your alright people.
@Dave Doherty doesn't make his ideas wrong though.
@Dave Doherty
Why, because he won’t give the Neo-Stasi a Free Pass? I guess him living and travelling within Warsaw Pact and especially him living within the Soviet Union, has given him a perspective on Marxism? That and the fact that he used to also be one, also helped . . .
@Dave Doherty
Yeah, but you’re like this about him because he doesn’t give the Police a Free Pass, because he calls them all out on their BS?
When the Police start stopping people and arresting people, for not having any (“Papers Please?”) Vaccine Passport’s to go shopping for Food, Drink and other Essentials?
From that point onwards? You can never again, go claim that there’s such a thing as a good Police Officer within any UK Police Force anymore.
The was a point between when German Civilians were still actually innocent, about Hitler and his Death Camps and then?
When they found out and didn’t care or do anything about it and still joined the Party, still wore the Nazi Pin, still sang all the songs and still yelled out that certain salute?
When the Neo-Stasi start arresting people, for trying to buy Food for themselves and their Families? There will NO LONGER, be an “Innocent” or Good Police Officer . . . surely even you must accept this fact?
Start with faith in Jesus Christ. ❤️
always a joy to hear Peter Hitchens.....feet on the ground.....
A joy? A JOY?!
Feet on the ground... Head in the sand... Arse in the air
in the morning!
Agreed
@@bobjary9382 yes your lot often are!
The worst part is, this is how most people think the police are meant to be
Yes it's the same with lockdown. Some can't get enough.
I never saw any other way of policing in my entire life. This is so fascinating to me. It used to work? For the people? Waaaw.
And so how long before the state police turns into the police state. Another sobering conversation from two hugely important Peters.
Not so long as each step is taken to secure the global totalitarian state. At least in the west. The rest of the world is far more conscious of what is happening and/or have lived through the same terror in their own lifetime and will not allow it to happen again so soon. But the west is just beginning to ramp up the complete transition to dystopia. The censorship, the rewriting of history, the breakdown of the family, the travel restrictions, vaccine passports, the fear and stress level in the population, the totally ideological education system. Each of these processes is well under way and the population is proving very compliant. Australia, NZ and Canada are the vanguard of this process. As newer and smaller countries they are easier to control. But the UK, western europe and the US will follow. If you are familiar with books like 'The Gulag Archipelago', what happened in the cultural revolutions of the USSR and China and other totalitarian states in the 20th century is what is coming to the west....
I think it’s already happened Emma :-(
@@silverlight2004db I see all that is happening and I know it looks grim; but I also have hope. Home and family have never been more important, ironically, as it is being torn apart right now. Take care.
@@alanglasgowbassist Time to enjoy your family and make the best of it then. Every day is a bonus.
@@silverlight2004db Very true and I have the same scary assessment along with many others. These countries all follow each other and follow suit. Or, as some say, the globalists control them all. Anyway, I was looking for a new job today and had to enter my name, number and preferred pronoun. Insanity is attacking us from all sides.
Remember what happened to Tony Martin. Utterly abandoned by the law, then had the book thrown at him when he protected himself.
Martin shot and killed a young lad when he was running away from his house. OK, so Martin had been burgled many times and was clearly frustrated with the situation but that was no excuse for shooting him. In fact, if the Sun hadn't campaigned, Martin wouldn't have been released from jail and wouldn't have been able to sell his story for 100k. Martin's case is complicated.
@@hezkyden (Sigh). Let’s recap what happened, shall we?
Martin was alone. He had been robbed repeatedly. The community responsible are known for having shotguns and illegal firearms. The police refused to do anything.
WHAT was he supposed to do? Leave his property, do nothing, or even get killed like a good citizen? Just let criminals do whatever they please to your property or person, is that what we’re saying?
The Chief Constable, Ken Williams, was so crass as to state that citizens should “shout for help” if something like this happened. Metropolitan imbecile! The nearest neighbour was bloody miles away well out of earshot.
As to the Sun, they only reflected the local fury arising from this complete failure of the law to protect Martin. In Norfolk, if *anybody* felt sorry for the two criminals then they were very quiet and in a minuscule minority over it.
The cash Martin got for his story was frankly the least anybody could have done after all he’d had to endure! Had he even received any recompense or insurance for everything that had been stolen? What happened to his farm when he was banged up, did anybody look after it and pay the bills? Again: had the police BOTHERED to do their duty - their DUTY, let’s repeat that - then none of this should have escalated.
@@mikereger1186 ( Double sigh). All you enunciate in the 1st, 3rd, 4th paragraphs I wouldn't disagree with. Your opinion as expressed in your 2nd paragraph I covered in my post; ''OK, so Martin had been burgled many times and was clearly frustrated with the situation but that was no excuse for shooting him.'' In the final paragraph you claim Martin deserved his blood money but, if he hadn't killed that youth he wouldn't have been convicted and his farm wouldn't have been neglected. As difficult as his situation was, there were better ways of dealing with it than shooting and killing a youth who was running away. If the boy had been inside the house and Martin had come across the lad and then shot him, then he'd have been justified.
@Professor McClaine ''metaphorically martyred''? Lol. He was paid a tidy sum for his 'martyrdom'.
You hear it from the people of the town...
'Sticks and stones' etc. was a very good mantra to teach children, because they then grew up *believing* it, which made it true.
This is being replicated in Ireland.
Same in Denmark, Holland and Germany. Not half as bad as Britain yet, but it's going that way more and more.
So far so good but yes.having psni at hel mot helping. Last year ,650, nre police this year 800 plus 400 extra Garda... not nurses
Its same shit here in Sweden.
when my paternal grandparents first arrived in britain from italy, it was a a far better country then.
Decline by design.
Listen man, I arrived from Italy in 1989 and it was indeed a great country. The decline, in my opinion, started roundabout 2004-2005. I despair for my English daughters (and my soon-to-be-born son), the country they will inherit is a far cry from the country I fell in love with 32 years ago....
I'm so depressed after watching this Peter Hitchens interview. I'm 61 and was a child who saw Bobbies on the beat. We were taught respect for the law. Although it never happened to me my mum and dad made it clear I'd get a clip round the ear if a policeman caught me misbehaving. My sister went to grammar school in 1968. When it was my turn in 1971 all the grammar schools has gone. How have we let the feeble minded cretins running our once great nation do this to us over the last 4 or 5 decades?
martynbush. Some 400 police officers from Metropolitan were arrested in 1970 on charges of moral corruption. All were removed from the Force.
@@Foxglove963 Were they charged with anything, like theft, corruption, embezelment? Or were they the 'tough' experienced ones who kept the crims in order but got 'socially replaced' for being not 'woke' enough ?
Peter Hitchens- A man of the people on all fronts. Eloquent and articulate and a joy to listen to , enjoying the wisdom.
If he were a "man of the people" (which, fortunately, he isn't) he would be inarticulate and totally ignorant of history.
Brilliant, could listen to these two, all day long. Peter Hitchins speaks with such pure common sense and I agree with everything he states, unfortunately it does not look good for our future.
Peter Hitchens should be advising the government on many things , including policing.
You are making the fundamental error of assuming that the government simply wants to do the right thing and is merely getting things wrong out of incompetence. The reality is that the situation is the way it is because that's exactly what the government wants.
The Howard league should be the advisors. Hitchens? I really cant see a use for him
@@bobjary9382 Try listening to him.
@@Dabhach1 I did for a bit but whilst I agree with his assertion about the police becoming an agent of the state his reasoning is way off.
... E2@...his view of jails in the UK is completely crazy too
Agreed but the likes of Peter most certainly do not fit their criteria.
Hitchens was on the nail with every word he said. I am certain he is his late brothers equal. I considered joining the police from the RAF but my father, ex-army and ex-police, convinced me to re-think and the reasons he gave echoed what Peter said here. The premise that the police were once policing for the people but are now policing for the state is a shocking truth that had not occurred to me but having heard this, rings loud and true.
An old man now, I was once a Plod. Back in the day when, with my ex Army Boots, I trod many a dark town shaking hands with door handles and keeping the Queens Peace. I was sworn to protect life and property. Not be a cheap welfare worker etc. For protection I had a whistle and a truncheon.
I resigned when the Police became another arm of the state. Sad, I enjoyed the job and thought - back then - we made a difference. Interaction with the Public was everything back then.
My wife was a Nurse and we lived in a Police House pretty much there for all 24/7. Many times the wife would answer the door and do the paper work.
Why it all disappeared is simple, because Politicians love to play with things and its easy to mess things up.... Harder to realise that if it is not broken do not fix it.
All I can say now, looking back, is that a once peaceful and much happier country is now a very much angrier and less harmonious place. I feel for the kids who will never know such a place and it seems know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Yes, it was a much happier place...not so long ago.
Thank you Sir to both you and your wife for true service, whay you say is so correct, you did make a difference. As a patriot to the bone, I now feel an alien in my own country, be sure that what worked well will never be allowed back. Let good people keep their own high standards in spite of, not because of, 'modernisation'.
Thank you Peter for you remarks and I concur. I was recently in Ypres at Tyne Cot cemetery and I wondered what they would make of it. Such a shame what has become of us. The best regards to you and yours sir.
Spot on - Mr Hitchens. I recall police and police women on "the Beat" up town. Their mere presence gave a sense of security to everyone. In recent times, I have seen them excluding the public from the CBD, armed with automatic firearms, guarding a minorities prayer session, which was under no threat. It was all theatre, which implied the community was dangerous and untrustworthy. Insulting in the extreme. But now I see police as Government thugs who imagine the law to be whatever they want it to be on every occasion that suits them. they are prejudiced, biased, inconsistent and untrustworthy. Now the cars are "rainbow cars" so they are political as well. They are a disgrace.
I can still remember the time when a few of us kids decided to go scrumping we went came out from the orchard pockets full of apples there he stood the policemen with a smile on his face. We froze the worst moment of my life. Being marched home to be confronted by my parents no question they were going to punish me. I had to wash tea dishes for as many weeks that were in my pocket. 3 weeks washing tea dishes and I got the message. Now 84 I still remember that event.
Oh for more like these two wise men...
How very, very depressing. It sounds as if it is going to be every man for himself soon.
Been that way a while now .
@@drewpeacock9079 so true. So so true.
I never tire of listening to Peter Hitchens. Thank God we've got platforms like this to hear intelligent thought provoking discussions.
Peter makes me want to live in a very different era. I'm 29.
Im 61 and i wouldnt want to be young today im so glad i was born when i was, totally depressed with where society is going its broken no doubt the real problem is i think this is part of the plan .
@@AndySmith-lq2di Completely agree. I am a good bit older than you, and I remember a conversation with a guy in my office of work around about 2010 and he said 'I reckon we have had the best years'. Even more true now.
Earlier periods had their fair share of drawbacks, Will.
@@kwakkers68 yeah no social media how did we survive !!!
@@AndySmith-lq2di By spelling Quakers correctly! 😂
I left the police in the 90s, and so much of this interview chimes with me. The police officer used to be the personification of the law, and the old uniform amplified this point. Officers now look much more militarised, but more than this, male officers are unshaven, have long hair (certainly in Gloucester), call everyone 'mate. They no longer wear headress when outside. I walked the beat and interacted with the local community. People saw the police in operation and could talk to a real person. Officers no longer have the time to do this. We have lost touch with what matters.
The drive for Diversity has levelled DOWN.
Prisons are full because the national population of the U.K. has significantly increased and we had an open border policy allowing anyone within the E.U. entry.
Mostly English and carribean prisoners, not many EU at all,
@@equaliser2265 Ethnically English or civic? Greg is correct. Immigration is the issue
There was an upsurge of raging mobs destroying statues for George Floyd, but I see nowhere the same rage for the stabbing of MP David Amess. Does it depend on which race were victims and killers in both cases?
Of course it does!
@@johnday6392and one more rethoric question, just in case the "mobs" had taken a more moderate approach to Mr Amess stabbing, are there any candles burning or "imagine" singing for a truly conservative religious MP??
We are gathering speed towards the precipice from which the Western civilization will commit suicide. And just in case we might hesitate in the last minute the media will chase us up to the very edge to push for the final jump.
Absolutely.
yes. its the fruits of the khazars jealous 'loxism'....CRT.
@@johnday6392 Yes....
If there was an epidemic of MPs being mercilessly slaughtered for no reason by the police perhaps we would have "MPs lives matter" (instead it was a terrible shocking tragedy that isnt the result of institutional wickedness going back years and years)
We are a "Dying Nation" 40 years of Weak Leaders and this is the result. This Country is no longer worth Fighting for and as a Veteran I would far rather declare myself a "Conscientious Objector" do a stint in jail for making that choice...
Doing the Hounourable, Decent & Morally correct thing no longer counts in Today's Society, Sad but True!!
This is happening because there is very little honour in parliament, do they do what the people vote them in to do, no, do they they tell vicious lies to fool us, yes they do, there is the trouble with the country, career politicians.
Mr Hitchens, as a retired PO I must say you possess a remarkable degree of insight into what has sadly gone so wrong with the police service,a truly remarkable insight.
The police are not the only part of society changing and not the most problematic.
The electorate have rarely been more moronic, lazy and dependent.
We now have justice professionals actively realizing injustice, and unskilled, inept, authoritarian, unscrupulous leaders throughout contemporary organisations.
James Burke ... unfortunately .... you are right
@@bikerbisht110
agreed, it's a shame. The main reason I remind myself of this reality, is it gives me a level of consciousness of possible adversity people might be experiencing, a consciousness I hope to hold on to.
Such an important topic. One of the things that are eroding in our society with most not noticing. I feel that so much police resources and technology and now directed against ordinary citizens, rather than criminals, when they misstep… almost a Nintendo game on our roads these days with a variety of cameras and surveillance traps…it’s hard to just focus on safety
The state became partners with the criminals a long time ago. Only recently did they stop pretending otherwise. They pick on the general public because there is no one to stand up for them, Parliament least of all.
@@pippip8744 Parliament has been steadily rubber-stamping more and more legislation to enable the police/judicial/social madness, from hate crimes, to trans issues. MPs may think they are immune to accountability for the legislation they have voted for and pre-existing, that needs to change quickly.
Excellent analogy of the Nintendo game, my god it's so true
@@pippip8744 I feel that the silent majority just grin and bear it and put up with the new sanctions as they just want to get on with their lives. I don't know how they are to be awakened
@@yoelmarson4049 But the rub is that 'getting on with their lives' is increasingly problematic when these profound changes bite. The one is intrinsically linked to the other. This is what they don't understand, and is also a tragedy as it is a result of the changes being so obliquely invidious.
Here in Melbourne (Australia); Your words are hitting(pun intended) hard. Thankyou The New Culture Forum good job.
This statement is incorrect.. its worse than that, in that, the guy down the Co-Op can tell you where to stand and what to wear on your face.. I wont comply any more..
I'm sure you feel terribly emasculated by the man down the co-op
Well done, the nonsense will stop when nobody complies
He can request anything
Your choice to comply or not
@@danbolt6003 missing the point a bit.. he shouldnt have any authority to tell me anything…
@@timhull8664 Incorrect. In a free society any one is free to talk to anyone. Especially in a public place or square.
“The Abolition of Liberty” is in my view, Peters greatest book. Taught me so much.
It's excellent (they all are). But my favourite is The Rage Against God.
There is a cause of radical change in this country, its called the career politician. they get into a seat, stay there for 20 to 30 years they become bigger than the parliament and the people they pretend to represent, and then we have an elected dictatorship, like we have had for years.
Britain: Our police are now a tool for enforcing the State’s will!
Australia: Welcome to our world! We’ve been living with this for two years!
People overseas should look at the Victorian police (state). They have a brutal, paramilitary force, that the state government has unleashed on an unarmed public. Australia is now a totalitarian police state, with Victoria leading the way, and I doubt elections will make any difference to that. The politicians are controlled by other forces. Morrison is now the front man for the fake social media "whistle blower" and his job is to call for more censorship. He is using the cover of "protecting our children". What a joke, when they want to do such an immoral act as to jab children with experimental vaccines. The coup has been very successful and resistance minimal and fear and compliance now reign supreme. It's only going to get worse in Australia. The other countries will probably fare better, given their higher intestinal fortitude and intelligence quotients.
It's been this way here for a lot longer than 2 years.
2 years? been like this in Sweden for 2 decades now
Frankly I was in the police from the mid 1970s until 1999 and my experience of policing was very traditional. We paraded 12 and 8 were on foot with the other 4 in cars. It worked. It did not change ,in my experience , until the late 1980s.
One of the best interviews/programmes on policing I have seen. Well done Culture Forum and Peter.
If you are looking for a top mgt job in the police force, I urge you to self-identify as a disabled lesbian or trans woman of dark colour. It doesn't really matter if you are any of these things, so long as you self-identify on the application form.
There is no objective criteria for identifying who is lesbian or who is pre-transition trans etc. All that matters is what you call yourself on the application form.
What if I self-identified as a Lesbian Trans-woman of Colour?!?😂
@@TraditionalAnglican That makes you protected specie.
The police are behaving like the Gestapo . they seem to be totally unaccountable . they are literally a law unto themselves .
The Gestapo knew what they were doing (unfortunately); therein lies the difference.
One of things I've noticed, especially with the policing of demonstrations, is that there are 2 different police cultures.
There are the regular constables, a shrinking and impotent culture that now focuses greatly on buerocracy but none the less retains the aspect of 'local constable'/'normal person in uniform.'
Then there are the PSU certified constables, either in a permanent support unit or amongst the other constables. These guys seem to have a much greater proportion of Jackboots; the Territorial Support Group in the Met are notorious now.
These guys will be sent to your protest, so long as the management structure of your local constabulary deems your protest 'unwanted.'
If you're a protest in line with their ideology however, you can expect a friendlier local constable to accompany you.
the word "TERROR" in the words Territorial Support Group isnt there by accident
“2 Tier Policing” is a thing, when White-Left and Marxists of Colour of; Antifa/BLM, get left alone without challenge by these Neo-Stasi? Because their Leftwaffe Politics are basically the same and the “Police’s” Bosses, in fact they all “Take a Knee” instead!
Yet, anyone else, who so much as Protests Lockdown’s, Open Border Gimme-Gration and the Vaccine Passport Protests to come . . .
. . . you’ll see a completely different “Attitude” shown towards them instead!
@@3879keith 🤔 "territ" surely? 😂
I see where you're going with it though.
I do think we need a resource in the police to effectively be there to beat up bad people; but the definition of bad people has shifted to align with this ideology that has captured the police management structure.
Perhaps I am opening myself up to tyranny by being permissive of this though. I just think that some situations need violence; I'd rather the jackboots win that skirmish and not gangs of rapists!
@@Excommunicated-ei1ep exactly the point I'm making!
I think these different causes are getting entirely different police sent to attend the demonstrations.
Their actions depends on whether the protest is for the people or for the benefit of the four big investment firms that own/run the World. "Climate Activists," probably without realising, work for the agenda of shutting the people of the Worlds down for the benefit of those companies and their shills.
A very interesting and enlightening interview.
I dont think it matters if Peter is right or wrong, The facts are being given to us, we are well on the way to a dictatorship. This country, and the rest of the western world, they need a few things in place first. I think the first rung on the ladder will be the abolition of cash.
Another great video. Thank you.
Proactive Policing changed to Re-Active Policing... generally when it's too late!
Another great podcast.Thanks to the two Peters 👍
Peter, would you think about having David Starkey back? I think he’s spent enough time on the naughty step!
He's going to have his own TH-cam channel apparently.
hes been back?
@@janeb1484 he's been on GB news.
I think he has been back.....
@@CrystalJ7 Do you remember how long ago?
I'm a great fan of both Peters. I had a positive experience with the police recently which I wanted to share. Due to a nuisance individual causing disturbances at the front door; I called 999 twice in two days. The police came within minutes and sorted the whole thing twice; finally telling him if he returned he wd be arrested. He did not return. I was very impressed and said so.
I remember watching Ken Clarke saying prison does not work, he does not get it! bring back corporal and capital punishment, prison should be solitary and porridge and mashed potatoes no mobile phones and visits if well behaved
POLICE : in order to get an arrest redefine 'Picnic' to 'Walking in a park, carrying a hot drink' !!!
You couldn't make this crap up!
Absolutely mate you hot that bang on
'No evidence in the whole of human history that anybody has ever been rehabilitated.'
😂😂 gotta love that man!
By its nature, there would hardly be any indisputable "evidence" for such a rehabilitation. He's probably right, though.
Reoffending rates are a good metric of successful rehabilitation.
It's insane that the police are showing support for political and ideological movements, what are the ppl in charge of them thinking.
Pretty simple, and explained in the interview:
How can you have a Police State unless you have "state" police?
Fascinating insight from Peter Hitchens as usual. "An army of paramilitary social workers." Right on point there.
Peter was on the mark - those of us who remember the village bobby and the police house know exactly what he was talking about. In those days you respected the Police - not now as they no longer represent the public.
Fascinating. Depressing, but absolutely fascinating.
Thanks for your good work Peter
One of the things I don't like is tattooed police, I just think it looks really trashy.
Yes or with beards.
Tattoos are for "rockstars", military personnel and biker gangs.
The idea of police officers with tattoos is an absolute absurdity
@@abb5596 NOnsense. Having a tattoo says NOTHING about the type of person you are . Are you 12 ?? lol
@@smyffmawzz it says a lot. Are you blind?
@@fionagregory9376 Beards I can tolerate. But I cannot -- cannot -- abide the sight of police officers with tattoos. Especially those hideous sleeve tattoos or spiders webs you see on the necks of some people.
Good discussion but the sound quality seems poor, there's lots of background noise whilst the speakers' voices are quiet in comparison.
Yes, it's like GBTV!
@@fraserbailey6347 it is getting better though.
It sounds to me like their lapel mics are not working so they've had to go with back-up sound as recorded by the mics in one of the cameras.
Tattoos, long hair and top knots, arrogant sloppy little men and girls in rainbow cars and baseball caps with their rainbow Chiefs and Mayors....
What could possibly go wrong!
And unshaven. The lowest form of policemen
They look very scruffy these days , I had an Uncle who had served in the Grenadier Guards when he left he joined the police force from the age of 21 until he retired from the force at the age of 55 , he and his fellow officers where very smart no tattoos above the collar or below cuffs on display , short back and sides , and they were inspected before they went out on the beat , look at them now disgraceful no respect .
Yes they do indeed protect the state and the privileged this is so obvious if you have ever had any recent dealings with them, it is a vile situation and one that you can fall foul of all so easily.
He has been brilliant and ignored for so many years - I don't think by coincidence. I encourage all commenters to work their way through his lectures over time. They are a pleasure to listen to.
Our police used to be so much better than continental police who were scruffy uneducated thugs. Standards have fallen so much nowadays that our police force are no different from their continental counterparts. Having lived in France and Spain many yeard ago i can concur with Peter Hitchin.
It’s not as bad as in Melbourne or NSW.
YET
I was working for a police force over half a century ago. May I confirm the accuracy of this discussion, the evolving developments are terrifying. We are evolving into a police state by 'salmi slicing' away our rights replacing them with a totalitarian concept of control.
One of the most interesting things I've ever seen from PH. Not that he's necessarily right about what policing *should* be (preventative? not sure) but he's sure as hell right about what it is in danger of becoming (he'd say it has become that already, perhaps correctly - but that would take the compliance of the general public. The rest of the country aren't quite sure they're living in a police state yet, and there might be quite a lot of trouble if people thought that was happening. The police wouldn't be able to do much if there was a sufficient level of distrust of them)
He is right. He's right about everything. Except the JQ.
As an EMT in Glasgow back in the 70s to 2000, I noticed a change in the policeman's attitude to wrongdoers and victims. An incident that frightened me was when an armed policeman was eager to shoot a siege perpetrator, how can this man be a policeman I thought. Say no more, policemen are not defenders of our community anymore.
I grew up in a Mining village near Barnsley and I have seen the Police as my enemy since 1984
As always the great Peter Hitchens leaves me feeling a good deal more educated but also equally a good deal more depressed. Great hosting by Peter as always.
Very interesting discussion. Keep guests of this quality coming to the show.
Thank you Peter Whittle for always bringing back Peter Hitchens whose repository of knowledge can never be summed up in a single interview.
Great, so thought-provoking. "Defence of habitation" issue...that was news to me. His comments regarding the universities are true, and very scary.
Having listened further, after the above paragraph, I have found this video has thoroughly alarmed me. Quote: "There is no point in calling 999 most of the time". Hell.
Thanks
Thank you so much!
Interesting that Hitchens mentions 1984 as the year that everything changed.......
I noted it myself, having read 1984 as a teen, I was alive to the changes.
That was the year I began to plot my escape from the clutches of all that was coming.
In hindsight, what everyone considered me mad for doing at the time, has turned out to be the most astute thing I've ever done. I do reckon poverty the mother of invention, for so it was in my case. Unless you're born stupid and prove unwilling to learn....in which case there's nothing to be done about that.
Quite often, I find what Peter has to say to be overly pessimistic, but on this topic I think he was incredibly insightful.
The police have always been that. I know most people only wake up when it starts to effect them personally.
I remember otherwise. For me the big changes came in the 90's. Even in the 80's in London, when there actually was something real to fear...the IRA...the Police had a completely different relationship with the public.
@UC71hI_2QR0A0Q1aNO4R6u3A I was still in school during that but yup, that's when I remember noticing the change too. Probably wasn't just police from other areas either, there were reports from people who saw their son in police uniform when their son wasn't a policeman, he was in the army. Not sure that was ever substantiated but then the government "investigated" themselves didn't they.
Prior to that they were seen on the streets, everyone knew the local bobby and they knew the lay of the land and who were the troublemakers in their area because they were involved with the community. My grandparents had a great deal of respect for the local bobbies and if you misbehaved you'd get threatened with a visit, empty threat of course but as a small kid you paid attention. They said hello if you passed one in the street because they used to be approachable. After this is when I first started hearing them referred to far more commonly as "pigs" rather than "bobbies" too.
I tend to associate cops with wasps, in that I have a similar reaction - they probably won't hurt you if you leave them alone but there's always that stay away from me feeling and you certainly wouldn't approach one voluntarily and even those carboard cut outs they used to stick up everywhere were off-putting. That's because nowadays it's even worse. They not only hold themselves aloof from the public but their interactions tend to be highly authoritarian and all too often ignorant of the law they're meant to uphold. Woe betide if you point out their ignorance to them when what they seem to want is kowtowing to their ignorantly arbitrary authority. Talk back and they're far more likely to double down rather than stand corrected. Throw in the ideological and political bias they exhibit too and they are no longer fit for the purpose they're allegedly there serve.
Not that the police were unbiased back in the good old days either but as serving members of a community their reputation mattered. Not so now, where you are never likely to encounter the same one ever again. The police do tend to attract a certain type of individual, always have. A couple of kids I was at school with became coppers, one of whom was the school bully. Well schools are kicking out a lot more far-left ideologues and narcissistic individuals who want to enforce their world view to the detriment of fairness and justice. That's who the police are now attracting and, furthermore, encouraging with such things as diversity managers and other discriminatory practices. I've seen some extremely discriminatory acts by coppers over the years, with my own two eyes, to the point that I would not approach them except under specific circumstances.
Last time I did was because I saw an obviously drunk/drugged guy wandering all over a dual carriageway late at night, raining and he was barely visible so I got my passenger to call them for me to speak to, to get him off the road. If not life and death or required for insurance purposes though, I'd be very reluctant to involve them when what's the point. They don't solve crimes or catch bad guys and since I'm a straight white male, I can expect their worst service or even a disservice.
I remember otherwise too. The 1970s were a very much better time, the eighties marked the start of a huge change in everything. My grandad was an inspector in Nottingham police, and I knew him - he was the original Dixon of Dock Green who helped everyone and clipped little kids round the earhole. My mother was one of the first women police officers in WW2.
Community policing would probably uncover horrors incomprehensible to the average citizen
14:45 It's hard to meet a police officer nowadays. 15:03 They're gone from the streets because they *_serve a different master_* ! 15:08 Remarkably they pop out in droves for demonstrations, and you wonder where they keep them :D 15:29 If the entire force were abducted by aliens, how long 'til you realized? This reminds me of: _If a tree falls in the forest, and noone is there to hear it - has it really fallen?_
MASSIVE LOVE and RESPECT dale Christopher Cregan .
The police stopped Sir David Amess (RIP) from receiving last rites.
What Hitchens says at 12:23 is something I saw coming decades ago. And never have I been sorrier to have correctly foreseen the end of a trend. He notes that "there was a period of time, _which seems to have come to an end because people don't dare,"_ (emphasis added) when people tried to defend their homes from burglars, and were aggressively prosecuted for it. This period has come to an end, not because the British government has given up on this appallingly, egregiously, unconscionably bad idea, but because the subjects have finally gotten the message and now don't dare resist the criminals. I said, back in the '90s, that the message this sends to law-abiding citizens is this: if, through no fault of your own, if through circumstances entirely beyond your control, some lowlife thug decides to pick you out of the rest of population to be his victim, your tranquil, happy life as you knew it is over. You're screwed no matter how it goes from here. Either the thug will victimize you, or if you dare resist, the state will swoop down _and victimize you even worse._ After all the intruder in your home will just deprive you of your property and your peace of mind, and perhaps leave you with a few injuries from which to recover. The state will take your freedom away from you.
Well, the message has been received. The Briton's home is no longer his castle. I would not live in a country where such a state of things is allowed to exist. That is no way for a free people to live.
Performance related pay was the nail in the police coffin, it didn’t matter what an officer arrested you for as long as they managed to get the required number of arrests and so they went for the easiest arrests possible.
@Dave Doherty I was told by an ex forces guy, who was in the army in the late seventies that many of the men arriving in coaches were actually squaddies in police uniforms, as the police had no experience of riot control, but the guys who had several tours of Northern Ireland had.
There has never been pay based on arrests or convictions. Just another piece of misinformation by the media and people like you
@@disillusioned1076 strange because I remember lots of news coverage of the labour government installing that very system in the 90s
He must be looking at something else... the police appear to do nothing e.g. M25 protests ( leave it to the people) and European nations cup final (leave it to the £10 an hour stewards)
Great news Peter is writing another book. Looking forward to more scribes from the oracle of Oxford.
Extraordinary interview, sober, thought provoking, factual…..yes, depressing but I will get over this, however the clarity provided will remain with me 👏🙏🏴😁
I went to a local small seaside town recently and was shocked to see two police officers on the beat, haven’t seen that in years anywhere..
@@lexiburrows8127 My father was in the police, joined about 1963, they nipped in shops to get food, they do need to eat but I agree if that’s the only time you see them now you wonder what the hell are they actually doing. I had dealings with the police a few years ago on a serious matter and they washed their hands of it, we left it at the end because we decided it was a battle we couldn’t win.
Can you tell me where you were please?
If that was Victoria, Australia, it would be to arrest maskless teenagers breaking curfew. 😔
When Robert Peel announced his intention to set up a met police force he faced massive opposition from a Victorian public that was fearful of an unaccountable bully boy police state. They were a smart lot, those Victorians.
A suggestion: Abolish all insurance, and institute state compensation for all crimes, administered by the police from taxation. The police to investigate all crime, replacing insurance investigations - the more successfully they investigate and the more they do to prevent crime the more able they are to meet payout targets set bay government. Not this police force of course - we need to start again!
My local police station closed down some years back. As Mr Hitchens points out, the only time the police are seen, is when they zoom by in their cars. TBH, watching this video makes me think about the other services we all have to pay for. As well as no visible police presence, we have numerous pot holed roads, a health service that’s very difficult to access, no street cleaning, limited refuse collections (I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been sitting in traffic trying to get to a civic amenity centre) a local council that keeps taking more money from me for less services. They also have big plans to concentrate over large parts of the green belt where I live, despite the fact that the vast majority of the local population are against this. There is something really rotten and corrupt going on in this country. It’s all leading to more misery and social/economic decline for future generations.
A year ago I might have been impressed by this, but more and more I felt whilst watching this interview that Hitchens is still trapped in old paradigms and is not up to speed on the new world realities.
Possibly because he decided to take the vaccination, it is now its easier for him to not engage so much with the tyranny, and human rights abuses that are increasingly taking place on a global scale.
The issues of vaccine passports, medical tyranny and the accompanying over policing and state over reach that comes with all of this was largely ignored, when the reality is this is by far the biggest issue of our time, and ultimately ties in to everything else that was being discussed.
Most insightful. A very bright man.
Great stuff. Interesting hearing the Capital punishment discussion, A worthwhile listen .
Thank you!
Knew long ago that Britain had become a totalitarian. Police state and the police segued from serving the people to serving the state. It's why I am now an expat.
England seems to be. It doesn’t feel that way here in North Wales 🏴
@@TheGava4 you guys have passes in Wales…. It sounds like hell.
@@TheGava4 what? With Vax passes and the kind of restrictions Mark Drake(onian)ford put in place? I remember the aisles of covered up goods in supermarkets because they were 'none essential'.
I agree with your statement I'm a EXPACK myself! The British people are dreaming if you THINK the country is yours ha ha its far from THAT! Dreamers nothing but a bunch of dreamers?.
Where are you living now ? .
That was a really interesting set of views. Many thanks.
Informative as ever by two people I have up most respect for . Intelligent conversation at its best , on topics that affect everyone. We have a problem to which may argue against , but we are definitely in a space that is fundamental at odds with the individual . And which has the potential to bring down even its most enthusiastic followers .