Member

In a courtroom, or occasionally in this Chamber, this discussion can produce many hours of pleasure. But in producing laws, we have to consider the officers who have to apply them and the circumstances in which they do so. When policing protests, officers are often outnumbered; in fact, if they outnumber the protesters, they are accused of intimidatory behaviour. The protesters believe sincerely and passionately in their cause and that the only people preventing them achieving their aim are the police—although in all cases I would argue that it is preferable for the police to make the interventions and the challenge, rather than the people on the other side of the argument or the general public. Quite often, members of the general public are offended not by the cause of the protesters but by their methods, which members of the public believe to be a nuisance. So it is better that the police deal with this rather than everybody else, who may have got quite emotive about the situation at the time.