General Chat

I keep meaning to ask why our PM deems it proper to speak of this wicked act as he stands outside No.10, amid the rumble of nearby traffic & the odd noisy helicopter overhead not to mention on a windy day, rendering some of his words inaudible, plus the irritation of the clicking/clacking of the media cameras?

Don't tell me that there is no suitable conference room to which the press, etc may be invited to hear his weasel words in a calm atmosphere or does he expect us all to wear our hearing aids or learn to lip-read?

His whole crazy charade is inexcusable.

Armed police aren't everywhere Roy, they can take longer to get places than your "everyday " police. As for just being ready to go out to shoot without permission, that is not the case.

The name of the soldier is not being released on the wishes of his family.

No doubt someone, somewhere will name him via the internet.

The family, friends and comrades of this young soldier deserve to be left in peace with their grief and I truly hope that this will be the case.

I can't believe I have just seen the name and a picture of the soldier who was shot, on fb either it is him, or someone has put up a wrong photo, either way, the family have asked for his name not to be released yet, so whoever has posted this photo, which was posted 15 hours ago, has no respect for the family.

if anyone releases his name they should be prosecuted

Lynda

I too saw a photo on a fb group, another member asked the poster to take it down, which they did.

I think it was a photograph of a soldier who had died in combat. :-(

Roy Only three forces in the United Kingdom routinely arm officers due to the nature of their work; the Ministry of Defence Police who are responsible law enforcement on MOD property, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary who guard civil nuclear facilities, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dermot, that's the plonker (for want of a better word) 'getting down' with 'the people'. 'Roughing it', as 'we're all in this together', and too busy talking to XY&Z about procedures and what to do, before they all rush off for another holiday.

Paula, The police have armed response units "firearms unit" in every town, They are armed because that is their job, They come on duty and collect their weapons, They are an intelligence led force and available 24/7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_unit

Roy

Added, They have vehicles that are adapted to store their weapons safely and also Carrie out other normal policing duties whilst being available to respond quickly to armed incidents and they always work in pairs,

Roy thank you. I have read Wikki previously where it said that Police where not randomly issued with fire arms, and I understand about "firearms unit" However, I am not really clear, do they carry the guns on them all of the time waiting for an incident to occur.

Roy is correct, in the UK all police forces either have their own armed response units or have access to armed response units of neighbouring forces. These vehicles carry lethal weapons of various types - ranging from hand guns to sub machine guns.

They usually patrol known trouble areas ready to move in at a moments notice, they are normally manned by 3 officers, the driver, the communications operator, and the navigator, and they carry these weapons in their vehicles at all times they are on patrol.

Thank you both.

Paula, Nothing random about it, They are hand picked and very highly trained

Lynda "Armed police aren't everywhere Roy, they can take longer to get places than your "everyday " police.

see my other post,15:18

"As for just being ready to go out to shoot without permission,"

I never said they are ready to go out and shoot without permission


If they are sent to an armed incident they automatically come under the rules that govern the perceived threat, "Rules of engagement" Which includes the same as anyone else to use the minimum force THEY deem necessary under the circumstances and the perceive threat at that time,

If a man points a gun at a police officer or a member of the public they can and will shoot make no mistake, They do not need permission under those circumstances,

Rules of engagement for the police are very similar to the rules of engagement that soldiers are under when policing a civilian population whilst on peacekeeping duty in places like northern Ireland.

Roy

Roy I was not suggesting they were selected randomly, I was quoting from part of the text on Wikipedia :-D

Just announced on BBC News , name of slain soldier.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

well said OFITG 23/05/2013 @ 09.20 :-D

I look at his lovely face and I could weep buckets - and he was a father too!!!

Yes we feel the same Ann,it's so bloody sad

So the post on fb was the name of a soldier previously killed in combat Jo,it seems that someone felt the need to add name at random just to look like they knew what was going on, sad people :-(

Roy, the reason for adding my post, was to say that the police were there in 9 mins, but it took a further 5 minutes for the armed police to arrive, meaning they aren't, "on tap" I've heard all day people moaning about the police taking ages to arrive, in fact they didn't.

Mehdi Hassan, political editor of Huffington Post UK, says he believes "the British people" won't allow themselves to be influenced by crude groups who will use the murder to try to foster and incite hatred. "You are still more likely to be struck by a lightning bolt in the street or drown in your bath than be killed by terrorists," he says. "[Radicalisation] is happening in bedrooms, on computers, in internet chat forums,

>>> it is not happening in British mosques.<<<

but it is.