The answer to our 'immigration problems'?

[sp1814]

Would you like the British police to be given similar powers?

http://www.dailymail....s-sparks-outrage.html

[daffy654]

I was just reading that article sp. The 'pregnant mother being dragged along the street' bit in that article is an outright lie. When you view the video you notice that the dozy sod is just lying on the pavement with her arms oustretched. She may have fainted, but I doubt it.
The one bit that did shock me was the lady with the baby on her back who was dragged, her baby could have been seriously harmed by the actions of those officers.

[sp1814]

Only seen the pictures at the moment...just have to dial up the YouTube clip on my phone...

[daffy654]

There were only two moments in the clip that made me angry sp. The one mentioned above, and another where the police are trying to seperate a mother and her toddler son. The toddler is shown crying hysterically as the officer literally drags him away from his mother. The mother didn't really help though by being completely uncooperative. If that were me I would not have taken my child to such a demo in the first place.

[Sqad]

I agree with daffy.

You have to get rid of squatters and they refuse to go and lie down in the streets, how else do you clear them? You could "water cannon" them or drag them down the streets and that is what the French Police have decided to do.

The baby´s safety is as much the responsibility of the mother as it is that of the Police.

I am all in favour of the water cannon myself and if that doesn´t work, the same but without the water.

[R1Geezer]

Yes god idea Sp, not normally a fan of the CESM's but hey they do sometimes impress!

[Sue222]

In any type of protest where there is a threat of violence then surely any responsible parent would leave the kids elsewhere knowing that there will be clashes and possible arrests.

[sandyRoe]

Police assaulting defenceless civilians is never a good idea. These people were making a protest about housing conditions. Remember, it wasn't so long ago that 17 people, 14 of them children, dies in a tenament fire in Paris.

[daffy654]

Quite true sandy, but even so, these women put their own children in 'the firing line' by taking them to the protest. It is not uncommon for some people to use children in this way in the belief that the authorities will not physically move them along because of the presence of the children.

[sandyRoe]

People might also take children on a demonstration as a sign that they have no intention of engaging in any sort of violence.

[Sue222]

Sandy there's nothing wrong with protesting just having the children there was a bad idea.

[Sqad]

sandy.....maybe......but a high risk strategy.

[daffy654]

They are entitled to protest against what they feel is an injustice. The children had no say in the matter.

[Gladeian]

Admittedly these are not pretty scenes - but the alternative is to allow an illegal demonstration to continue - ok so the police take no action - what illegal activity do the French police allow to occur next - no - the police had to act and any harm that happened to the protesters is their own fault - they had the option to disperse

[sp1814]

Let's not forget however, that people from all sides of the 'political divide' use their kids in demos, because it makes for 'better coverage'.

I remember not long ago seeing people protesting in favour of Sarah's Law who'd brought their kids along...the kids were holding up signs that read, "Don't let me be a victim of a paedophile'.

I don't know exactly WHAT was wrong with that...I just knew there was SOMETHING wrong with it...

[123everton]

There are very real problems between the French gendarmarie and immigrants, there have been several race riots sparked by allegations of polce brutality.
France overal is startng to develop the appearance of a paranoid, xenophobic, right wing country with the sort of corrupt goverment one would expect in such a society.
People forget, it wasn't that long ago that Jean Marie Le Penn was runner up in the presidential elections.
What exactly constitutes an illegal demonstration in a free country?

[sandyRoe]

It wasn't so long ago that people were arrested in Whitehall, near the Cenotaph, for reading out the names of the service personnel killed in Blair's war. Apparently that was an illegal demonstration.