From The BBC
15 May 2013
The home secretary has said she will look at the case for
making water cannon available to police in England and Wales. Theresa May said
she had received representations from some police forces who said water cannon
could be helpful. Earlier this week, it was reported the Met Police wanted to
acquire two German-made water cannon vehicles. Water cannon have been used in
Northern Ireland but they are not currently authorised in Britain. The home
secretary must approve their use.
Speaking after her appearance before the Police Federation
annual conference, Mrs May said she wanted officers to have "the tools
they need" to do their job. It is understood the Home Office has no
objection in principle to the equipment being introduced to forces in England
and Wales. Mrs May said: "We've not seen water cannon used on the streets
on the mainland in the UK, but obviously they've been used in Northern Ireland.
"What I've said to the police is I
want them to tell me what tools they need in order to be able to do their job.
We want to be able to make sure the police can do the job that everyone wants
them to do. They're putting a case to us about water cannon and I will look at
that case."
The Met Police has previously said water cannon would be a
"valuable" addition to their armoury when faced with situations such
as the 2011 riots. It was reported the Met wants to use the Ziegler
Wasserwerfer 9000, which cost £1.3m each and are capable of holding 9,000 litres
(1,980 gallons) of water. It is understood the force had hoped to have the vehicles
by next month in case disorder arises from protests planned in London before
the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.
[I can’t help wondering what exactly the Government are
expecting to happen that warrants the use of water-cannon on the streets of
mainland Britain. I know that the riots in London and other cities recently
really frightened them but would water-cannon have helped that much? Will we
see the authorised use of tear-gas and other ‘non-lethal’ weapons too? Will
rioting become as regular as rain at Wimbledon or England being knocked out of
the World Cup in the early stages? Or is it just easier to suppress dissent
than do something about it?]
2 comments:
Wow, and your population isn't armed to the teeth like ours, right? How bad are riots there? Here's a radical idea, run the country in the interests of the people and not multi-national corporations and the rich, and maybe the people wouldn't riot.
Oh, we've had a few nasty ones from time to time...... Imagine what we could do with guns...
Back in 1981 riots in Liverpool, Manchester and parts of London almost caused the police to use tear-gas on the UK mainland for the first time ever. Things like water-cannon have only been used in Northern Ireland until now. If we see them used here it'll take things to a whole new level.
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