Anyone anywhere at any time, the terrifying extent of police powers in Modern Britain.

Arresting peaceful protestors is not “inappropriate” it is criminal.

Opinion

By Nicholas Ward

Sycophantic reporting on arrests of peaceful protestors this week have littered papers across the UK.

Credit: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Bipartisan public figures have condemned the arrests as inappropriate. Though many politicians spend more time criticizing the protests than the arrests.

Adam Tonkins Ex conservative MP : “Anyone choosing this moment to protest… against the monarchy is insensitive to the point of boneheaded crassness. But they should not be arrested for expressing their views.”

Protestors are being arrested for ‘breaching the peace’. A person can be charged with breaching the peace if their behaviour is disorderly or could have a negative effect on those who witness it.

On Monday a 22 year old who yelled 5 words in Edinburgh “Andrew you’re a sick man” was arrested and charged in Edinburgh for breaching the peace. And in London a barrister holding a blank piece of paper was threatened with arrest by police and had her details taken.

If a person can be arrested for yelling five words on a public high street or be threatened for standing with a piece of paper then breach of the peace powers are so broad the police can arrest anyone anywhere at any time for any reason.

Politicians seem intent to steer the conversation away from the question. Should the police have such broad powers?

Across the political spectrum people have condemned the police using their extraordinarily broad powers, but as yet no one seems to be asking whether they should have them.

Commentators seem far more interested in criticizing the protestors than having a conversation about the police.

An overzealous respect for the dignity of the event is the blistering criticism made by former counter terrorist police coordinator Nick Aldworth.

No officer is being brought up on disciplinary charges and there seems to be no legal recourse for the protestors against these arrests.

For the simple reason what the police are doing is legal.

In other words, police powers today are so broad arresting a person for standing silently with piece of paper is allowed.

When the 22-year-old Scottish anti Monarchists yelled on Monday “Andrew you’re a sick man” he was attacked by members of the crowd. Video shows the young man being roughly jerked from the crowd and thrown to the ground by angry monarchists.

And yet it was the protestor not the men assaulting him who was arrested.

Instead of focusing on “appropriateness” should we be focusing on the larger issue of abuse of power?

As has been made blindly obvious over the last few days the vagueness of current laws gives the police the right to arrest anyone at any time for any reason.