The Invisible Met

Our 'cycling correspondent' (who's gleefuly been sending me pictures of his new Penny Farthing adorned with red tyres and yet - illegally - no bell or reflectors) alerted me to an article in today's Times by Janet Daley.

'Coppers out of thin air' raises the valid point that the recent increased Police presence on the streets of the capital implies that the manpower we were always assured was too costly to deploy, is in fact available and able to burn shoe leather on the pavements, platforms and in the parks. This perambulating deterrent has been gloriously absent during the increase in violent crime, the stabbings and shootings, the drug dealing and vandalism. Yet now we're treated to assault rifles on the train to Paddington.

What I expect will happen is that a gradual scaling down of non-essential duties will occur until someone realises this and officers will be recalled back to desks to clear admin backlogs and generate some speeding-fine revenue. Anyway, she puts it far more eloquently, read her article.