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Pavements are risky public spaces – David Cameron has to live with that Pavements are risky public spaces – David Cameron has to live with that
(about 2 hours later)
None of us is secure. We dice daily with death. Somewhere is a bullet or a tree or a double-decker bus with our name on it. When David Cameron was allegedly jostled by a Leeds jogger on Monday it “could have been” much worse. Everything could always be much worse.None of us is secure. We dice daily with death. Somewhere is a bullet or a tree or a double-decker bus with our name on it. When David Cameron was allegedly jostled by a Leeds jogger on Monday it “could have been” much worse. Everything could always be much worse.
The story is indeed puzzling. The Met police’s famously overstaffed and underworked VIP protection mafia were sunning themselves on the pavement when a man charges towards the prime minister. Don’t worry, they instinctively think, his beard, his dreadlocks, his T-shirt with upside-down cross clearly suggest a harmless Yorkshireman late for his personal trainer. Only when he is within stabbing distance of Cameron do they go berserk. How will it look on CCTV? They have just protested against cuts in the VIP protection budget, and now look at the mess. They cannot spot a potential threat at five paces.The story is indeed puzzling. The Met police’s famously overstaffed and underworked VIP protection mafia were sunning themselves on the pavement when a man charges towards the prime minister. Don’t worry, they instinctively think, his beard, his dreadlocks, his T-shirt with upside-down cross clearly suggest a harmless Yorkshireman late for his personal trainer. Only when he is within stabbing distance of Cameron do they go berserk. How will it look on CCTV? They have just protested against cuts in the VIP protection budget, and now look at the mess. They cannot spot a potential threat at five paces.
Forget it. We cannot protect anyone, even a politician, who hopes to lead a reasonably normal life. There has to be some risk attached to the job. Lord Carrington as foreign secretary was asked who was always walking behind him. Forget it. We cannot protect anyone, even a politician, who hopes to lead a reasonably normal life. There has to be some risk attached to the job. Lord Carrington as foreign secretary was asked who was always walking behind him. He replied: “He’s the man who gets to shoot the man who shoots me.”
He replied, “He’s the man who gets to shoot the man who shoots me.” The president of the United States moves in a cocoon of fanatical security, yet a stranger is found wandering the White House unchallenged. One of the tourist sights of London is Tony Blair’s Bayswater house, indicated by policemen with machine guns at the front, back and lolling against the trees – London as Papa Doc’s Haiti. The president of the United States moves in a cocoon of fanatical security, yet a stranger is found wandering the White House unchallenged. One of the tourist sights of London is Tony Blair’s Bayswater house, indicated by policemen with machine guns at the front, back and lolling against the trees – London as Papa Doc’s Haiti.
Who knows or cares if the Leeds jogger really was late for the gym or was a jokester with a loathing for men in suits? He has performed some service in showing that pavements are public spaces and famous people who parade on them must accept some risk. The prime minister has sensibly asked for the Met’s ever-hysterical security to be relaxed – he hates police outriders. He is entitled to protection from bystanders and casual nuisances. But he cannot be saved from a crazed assassin, any more than the rest of us can be protected from a car bomber or gun-toting terrorist. Life is risk, for Cameron as for the rest of us.Who knows or cares if the Leeds jogger really was late for the gym or was a jokester with a loathing for men in suits? He has performed some service in showing that pavements are public spaces and famous people who parade on them must accept some risk. The prime minister has sensibly asked for the Met’s ever-hysterical security to be relaxed – he hates police outriders. He is entitled to protection from bystanders and casual nuisances. But he cannot be saved from a crazed assassin, any more than the rest of us can be protected from a car bomber or gun-toting terrorist. Life is risk, for Cameron as for the rest of us.