Rich

Occasional twitter. Once worked somewhere on the big Railway & in somewhere in the Law. Often by the coast!

[Don McGowan @donmcgowan]

Over the last 36 hours, we have witnessed the very soul of Nigel Farage — his essence.

It has been over a month since he went into hiding, since serious questions began to be raised over his undeclared £5M donation.

A month since he appeared in front of TV cameras or underwent any questioning at all.

At 8am yesterday morning, Farage released a video, from a field somewhere, calling for rage. Calling for an end to the mythical two-tier policing.

Make no mistake, those were very carefully chosen words — he understood what he was unleashing, and his wish was granted last night in Southampton.

On Tuesday, the Home Secretary made a statement to the House regarding the murder of Henry Nowack. There was, as always, an opportunity to question Shabana Mahmood — was Nigel Farage in attendance?

No, of course not.

Today, Farage was granted a question at PMQs — the showpiece spectacle of the political week in which the country's news and politics fanatics tune in to watch — was Nigel Farage in attendance?

Yes, of course he was.

He had somehow found his way into work after missing 77 separate votes in Parliament because … he would, at least for three minutes, be the centre of the country's political attention.

His question was about the murder of Henry Nowack and the violence that erupted [on his command] last night, but he would not condemn it or call for calm.

Instead, he 'suggested' that this rioting might escalate.

This afternoon, he has performatively written to the BBC because someone on Newsnight dared to accuse him of inciting the violence — playing his perpetual victim card. Again.

And there we see the soul of Nigel Farage — a craven, desperate for attention, evil, petty and pointless man.

END RANT.

[Lee Broadbent @leembroad]

The death of Henry Nowak is a tragedy in every sense, and the public reaction to the body‑worn video is completely understandable. It is painful to watch. It is painful for officers to watch. And it is painful for Henry’s family to know that his final moments were chaotic, confused and shaped by a lie told by the man who killed him.

But if we are going to talk about this case, and especially where/if politicians make highly charged statements, I believe it’s important to stay anchored to what was actually established in court.

The judge was clear that the responsibility for Henry’s death lies solely with the man who stabbed him. The fatal wound to his chest was described as “catastrophic” and “unsurvivable”, and the pathologist confirmed that no medical intervention, immediate or otherwise, could have saved Henry. That does not erase the distressing nature of the footage, it does not mitigate the seemingly dispassionate response of the officers in attendance, but it does matter when we are trying to understand what happened and what could or could not have changed the outcome.

It is also a matter of record that the officers were responding to a 999 call in which the offender falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack and insisted no weapon had been used. That deception shaped the first few minutes on scene.

The IOPC has been involved from the outset, and the officers have remained as witnesses throughout. This is an important distinction, as those familiar with post incident procedures can tell you. If there was a shred of doubt or suspicion that the officers actions at the time, when balanced against the information known at the time and their reasonable held beliefs, amounted to potential misconduct, the IOPC must at the earliest opportunity review their status. The IOPC have confirmed that the officers status remains unchanged. That indicates that the officers initial decisions/actions have already been assessed against the information known at the time and is unlikely to now change and amount to misconduct.

None of this means the initial assessment was correct. It wasn’t. The officers misread the situation, and the body‑worn video shows that plainly. But policing is full of moments where decisions are made in seconds, under pressure, with incomplete or misleading information. Sometimes those decisions are right. Sometimes they are not. And sometimes…as in this case…the consequences are unbearably tragic even when the mistake does not change the final outcome.

What we cannot/should not do is turn this into a proxy battle in a wider culture war. Henry’s family have asked that his death is not used to fuel division, hate or to propagate political agendas.

It is possible to hold two truths at once:
that the initial response was flawed, sloppy even…and the investigation needs to establish how policy, procedure and relied information impacted those decisions and events; and that despite the officers clear mistakes and compassion fatigue, they did not cause Henry’s death, nor could they have prevented it.

Policing is at its worst when it becomes defensive, but it is also at its worst when it becomes a canvas onto which people project their own political battles and/or bitterness. This case, if it is to be a turning point, deserves better than that.

We can demand accountability without abandoning fairness. We can acknowledge mistakes without inventing motives. And we can talk honestly about the pressures and imperfections of frontline policing without turning every tragedy into a referendum on the entire profession.

That balance is difficult. But, to my mind, it is the only way we avoid repeating the same cycles of outrage, distortion, division and defensiveness that have done so much damage to public trust… and to the people who still turn up, every day, to do a job that is getting harder by the day.

[Rich @TheRichB]

@benjaminhopton @Dariusaurus @Brick_Cop @ukhomeoffice Considering their background, I wouldn’t bother arguing with this one. Talk about axe and grinding. But hey, someone lost their consoles…

[Rich @TheRichB]

@TrumpetDave @Brick_Cop @AndrewWright37 @ukhomeoffice Given the mess the Fed are in at the moment though I’d be surprised if that happens. Speaking of, we haven’t heard anything from City since the arrest…

[Rich @TheRichB]

@InsideBritain @TomABacon @labourpress @NCSC @metpoliceuk He also said Parliament told him he couldn’t do constituency surgeries until parliament came out and stated that was a lie 🤦🏼‍♂️

[Rich @TheRichB]

Unbelievable.

[Greater Manchester Police @gmpolice]

Last year a man was convicted of assaulting two female officers and a male member of the public at Manchester Airport in July 2024. He will be sentenced next month.

Two juries have been unable to deliver a verdict relating to alleged assaults on a male officer.

[Rich @TheRichB]

@corfgar @NativeBritUK @Haggis_UK His brain cells?

[Brick Cop©️ @Brick_Cop]

It’s hard to comprehend how a jury couldn’t agree that seriously assaulting Police Officers could ever be described as ‘self defence’…👀

Thinking of the Officers involved in this absolute farce we continue to call ‘justice’.

Let’s hope @CPSUK seek a retrial.

#ThinBlueLine 🚨

[Rich @TheRichB]

You can’t even step off your train in London without being a victim of crime these days!

I might have to console myself by finding a Warrens 😂

[Bruce McD @brucemcd23]

Solid reporting on Farage’s Murky Millions by @vicderbyshire

Bluster from Jake Berry delivered with vigour but entirely devoid of substance

Farage’s story keeps shifting, is highly inconsistent and ultimately entirely unconvincing

And where is Farage when he has serious questions to answer?

@SophyRidgeSky said earlier , when challenged on absence of coverage, Farage had refused interviews

Since running away from @bbclaurak before the election Farage has given interviews to @BethRigby - in which he got very irritated- and @MrHarryCole - in which he was very matey but shifted his story. The £5m had become a Brexit Reward

Tice’s partner Oakeshott appeared on Farage TV 2 ( aka TalkTV) and indignantly defended Farage, although her contribution was probably less helpful to him than she intended, in that she undercut many of his previous lines of defence.

Apparently Newsnight have asked for Farage or representative ten times

They ended up with Berry . Who shed darkness rather than light

Farage is afforded wall to wall coverage - on his terms- when he so much as opens an envelope

Now it’s time to demand he answers questions rather than hides . Presumably in one of the six properties we know about. Two of them bought for cash in 2024 within weeks of each other

He believes he’s untouchable. Because he has never been persistently and rigorously held to account

If the mountain of unanswered questions are not robustly tackled now we can say good bye to Standards in Public Life

Because Farage will have demonstrated he is , indeed , untouchable

[Metropolitan Police @metpoliceuk]

Footage of a Muslim officer being abused at a protest was widely shared this weekend.

It happened a few weeks ago and we won’t be resharing the video, but yesterday we saw more of the same.

Nobody should have to put up with abuse at work and that includes police officers.

Arrests were made in all these incidents and we'll be pushing for charges in every case.

[Brick Cop©️ @Brick_Cop]

Keep an eye on your mates.

Check in with them.

If they’re being quieter than normal, find out why.

If they’re not acting like themself, find out why.

You spend all day looking after the public, look after your mates too.

It might make all the difference.

#ThinBlueLine 🚨

[Rich @TheRichB]

@obbsie Spot on Chris.

[James May @MrJamesMay]

I’m sure we have all now seen the footage of Metropolitan rozzers kicking a suspected terrorist in the head, repeatedly, when he was down.

We can all play a part in putting an end to this sort of police brutality. Mainly by not going around stabbing people.

[Nick Robinson @bbcnickrobinson]

I’ve just been interviewing @Keir_Starmer for @BBCr4today who says he met the police officers who tasered the suspect in the Golders Green stabbing

“I want everybody just to imagine what it might be like. You're trying to arrest someone who has already attacked two people and has no regard for life. We know that tasers were fired. I know from my own experience with the police, that there are only two shots in a taser, and once you've shot them, there's nothing left. There's a guy on the ground, he's got a rucksack on. And I don't know what was going through the mind of those officers, but if I was there, I'd be thinking, he's going to detonate something. He's going to blow me up and everybody around here. In those circumstances, I think you can quite see why what could have gone through their mind is, we need to do whatever we can to disable this guy."

He added: "Now, when I then see Zak Polanski come out and retweet or support a criticism of that, I think it's disgraceful... He's not fit to lead any political party."

Full interview on @bbcr4today tomorrow from 7am

[Rich @TheRichB]

Respects paid. This is for you Harps.
💙

[Rich @TheRichB]

@RobbieScowlz @PaulBrandITV @IainDale So it’s fine for politicians to wade into Policing but when the boot is returned it’s wrong and undermines trust now? Standard from the Green Party under Polanski.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

I need 100,000 signatures to win a parliamentary debate about the ownership of the water industry.

Do your thing internet.

https://t.co/kZz1cXBtz3

[Rich @TheRichB]

@allenanalysis Does he always sound slurred?

[Rich @TheRichB]

@MarechalAr35394 @Mr_Regional @philatrail Cheers. I look forward to your input to my BTP colleagues in the future then.