I'm no fan of the Socialist Workers' Party, so I won't be losing much sleep over the fact that it is currently imploding under the weight of two sex scandals. But I do find it intriguing that this intellectually moribund organisation is having the final nail pounded into its coffin, not by the state or by the right, but by feminism.
Much unkind comment has been passed on George Galloway, MP for Bradford West. He is accused of being a "pimp for fascism", of operating an unregistered charity for personal gain, of sucking up to Saddam Hussein and, perhaps most damningly, of killing satire with a rusty crowbar and leaving it to rot in a ditch.
The old adage exists for a reason - the public are the police and the police are the public - and that simply will not work if respect is lost for the uniform and the people wearing it. Equally tied into this is the necessity to give warranted officers the backing, be it political or legal, to use their discretion and get on with their job.