Manchester Piccadilly Station Incident

[sunny-dave]

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-piccadilly-station-reopens-after-14397052

Why the hell did it take THREE HOURS to clear this protest?

It could well have been a terrorist incident and yet seems to have been handled ineptly (to be polite) and without much urgency.

I have the feeling that if a bunch of 100 UK citizens had attempted to close a station in Istanbul (to promote interest in a purely UK issue) it would have taken about 5 minutes for them to have been removed and the next time they saw daylight they would have been minus a few days worth of sleep/food and plus a good few bruises (at least).

It doesn't give one a lot of confidence in the GMP's anti-terrorist capabilities ...

[vulcan42]

The station was closed down, and trains not running. A quick flick of a couple of switches would sort that problem.

[ToraToraTora]

so the richards are protesting about the captains and we have to suffer? Should have left the lecky on.

[fiction-factory]

Well we don't have water cannons anyway - they rarely work except in certain situations when they can be set up well in advance. Doubt they'd get them through the turnstiles at a railway station

[Jackdaw33]

I actually like the idea of a water cannon. Watching them gently sizzling on an electrified line would be quite entertaining.

[sunny-dave]

It's not about who was protesting, it really isn't - I'd feel the same if it was Mumsnet celebrating IWD.

Either the GMP were advised in advance that it was a peaceful protest - in which case they should have stopped it - or they knew nothing in advance and it should have triggered a full major terrorist incident response.

It actually seems they sent a couple of plods from the BTP and hoped for the best.

Shockingly poor.

[mushroom25]

just seen this on C4 news. clearly there was some foreknowledge - the cameras were there, the police stood back and the protesters just walked through the ticket barriers (which were open btw).

also reported now that king's cross in London is closed due to protestors from the same group,

[gness]

Eddie......I would have thought that you were familiar with the rules and restrictions that apply to a peaceful protest.....

Those rules appear to have been broken here so it was far from a peaceful protest.

[Gromit]

Fools. The British Government will not do anything about Turkish atrocities because we are wanting to up our trade with them after Brexit. Turkey are in the same club as our other genocidal friends, the Saudis - people we can do business with (so long as we turn a blind eye to their evil deeds).
Roll on March 2019.

[Jackdaw33]

Just a little translation for those unfamiliar with foreign languages.

Richards = Richard the Third (Kurd). Captains = Captain Kirk (Turk)

[sunny-dave]

If mushroom is correct, then the GMP are even more culpable than I suggested - standing back whilst a mob enters a station (because you have been warned about it in advance) seems to give a blueprint to bombers for future atrocities ...

[Tilly2]

In this case it was anti-social behaviour and disruption. I'd have been furious if I was trying to get a train from Picaddily today and I would have expected the police to do something a bit more forceful than just stand about and watch.

[Jackdaw33]

What you should have done, Tilly, is to light up a cigarette in the station. All of the Plod would have been on you like a ton of bricks.

[EDDIE51]

Platform tickets went out decades ago , the 1980s I think.

[Tilly2]

...and the station staff!

[zebo]

We need to assume every incident is terrorist related until it's proved not to be and deal with them accordingly, whatever the outcome. It's their choice to put their lives at risk, personally I wouldn't be mourning any of them. The place to protest Turkish events is in Turkey, but presumably that requires cojones.

[-Talbot-]

Gromit
Fools. The British Government will not do anything about Turkish atrocities because we are wanting to up our trade with them after Brexit.


Quite right Gromit ... I mean pre Brexit we would have ... er, erm. er ....

No, sorry pre Brexit what would we have done differently?

[gulliver1]

Well they could not use water cannons could they, Boris flogged them.

[fiction-factory]

It was Sadiq Kahn that sold Boris's water cannons but I think even if he hadn't flogged them it might have taken more than 3 hours to transport them from London today!

[Tilly2]

I can't believe that some people on here are blithely talking about deliberately electrocuting people on a railway line.

It makes me sick!

[Mamyalynne]

The whole incident was very poorly handled, even more so if prior knowledge of this was known as suggested.