Has anyone noticed when things really started to change in the way Government treated its people, heres my take....

I was back in England last August, and 10 of us were staying in York, the day we left it was raining, we had 3 cars and were all pulled over as soon as we left the hotel, everyone was made to get out and stand in the rain while they did MOT on each car, must,ve been 10-12 police vehicles, they checked everything they could and made us push the car forward so they could check for a weak spot on 1 tyre, they sent for another tyre gauge too and finally came up with a reason to ticket my brother for a car he bought 4 months before at a garage with a new MOT!!! we were drenched, and we had to go and get 4 new tyres immediatly, then when we got home he had to go to the police station and show reciepts that he had done so, and his fine was about 200 quid!!! the other 2 cars passed but making us stand in the rain was wrong. they inconvenienced 10 people to find 1 so called weak spot on a tyre. America has its own problems but the cops cant do this to anyone.

the other thing I noticed was the eye in the sky watching us wherever we were, very creepy but maybe needed in this times we live in, Is this a free country or what???

Micky - clearly you're on the rozzer watch list ... maybe a legacy from your mining community connection. The cops have very long memories. I'm suprised you didn't get the rubber glove treatment for good measure.

Micky - clearly you're on the rozzer watch list ... maybe a legacy from your mining community connection. The cops have very long memories. I'm suprised you didn't get the rubber glove treatment for good measure.

Well it wasnt just us getting pulled over, they had cars and trucks all over, and were making sure that fines were levied to anyone with the slightest defect, as I said they checked everything possible, even for oil leaks from the valve covers and after checking one of the tyres about 20 times made us push the car forward and sent for another gauge which was digital until they said they found a weak spot in a car that was purchased with a new MOT 4 months before, and the fact that everyone, including 3 kids, was made to stand in the pouring rain. no respect for the public was shown, a fat grin of satisfaction from the cop when he found his reason to ticket.

This is the British police all over..they always get their priorities right. You would think they had nowt better to do.

Its maybe more about league tables and performance targets these days......

Well it wasnt just us getting pulled over, they had cars and trucks all over, and were making sure that fines were levied to anyone with the slightest defect, as I said they checked everything possible, even for oil leaks from the valve covers and after checking one of the tyres about 20 times made us push the car forward and sent for another gauge which was digital until they said they found a weak spot in a car that was purchased with a new MOT 4 months before, and the fact that everyone, including 3 kids, was made to stand in the pouring rain. no respect for the public was shown, a fat grin of satisfaction from the cop when he found his reason to ticket.

all in a days work for britains finest!

Its maybe more about league tables and performance targets these days......

...and spin! Interesting snippet on TV the other night of how the golden boys & girls of Nu Labour sound bite someone else's affordable and substantial rise in public spending as a cut. (not that there are any affordable rises any more!)

Pity the ASA's brief doesn't include political claims; few, if any, would make it to the screen. But new Nu Labour has still to learn the only business lesson worth learning: whether your customers are happy, and will buy again. Instead they rely on people having short memories.

About time that the chief constable and his crew were locally elected - like in civilised and democratic countries.

Question GGG, do you know the origin of ‘Nu Labour” as a name?

There seems to be several claims for the origin of “New Labour”, even Lord Owen claims it was his brainchild in a report in the Independent, but I cannot find the first reference to Nu Labour as a name.

Public sector spending will have to come under pressure soon as the money runs out for the Keynesian economic route the current Gov are taking. This may well have a knock on effect locally as a lot of jobs have been created in the NE in the public sector, a disproportionate amount but maybe viewed as a sort of payback for political allegiance. I would also expect to see things like public sector pensions etc come under pressure especially if Bootsie and Smudge get in at the next election.

As for electing police chiefs locally it sounds good but may be one of these things where the practice is out of kilter with the theory? I think I would prefer to let coppers be coppers, not apprentice politicians, and still have the elected executive overseeing them.