The price that the police pay

Only good fortune, and the prompt response of the Wpc’s colleague, spared the officer from suffering even more serious injuries as the force prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragic loss of Ian Broadhurst, who was gunned down in another part of the city on Boxing Day, 2003.

Although these occurrences are “thankfully rare” – the reassuring words of Chief Superintendent Paul Money – they are still “very shocking” and highlight the dangers which confront the police every day of the year.

These must not be forgotten – each and every officer is effectively putting their life on the line whenever they leave the confines of their police station to go out on a routine patrol or to answer a call from a member of the public. They are trained to expect the unexpected.

Yet, despite the outpouring of support whenever a constable is killed or seriously injured in the line of duty, it would be extremely regrettable if such random acts of violence led to all officers being armed on a routine basis.

Britain’s police, the brainchild of Sir Robert Peel in 1829, remain the envy of the world because they are so approachable and do not require firearms to solve the overwhelming majority of crimes – community policing remains embedded in this country’s culture and should continue to do so.

It is also to the policing profession’s eternal credit that it continues to exhibit great bravery, and resist the temptation to arm officers like the courageous pair who came under senseless attack yesterday, despite the dangers being very different to Peel’s era.

Gun violence is far more prevalent in today’s society than even a decade ago, but there is no evidence to suggest that it would be curtailed by an armed response on the part of 
the police.

As always, the challenge is trying to limit the availability of weapons – an issue pertinent to the inquiry now underway – and ensuring that the courts show no mercy to the senseless minority prepared to endanger the arbiters of 
law and order.

Winds of change

THE reason Britain’s creaking energy and transport infrastructure compares so unfavourably to similar nations is a simple one: too many decisions have been driven by short-term political considerations rather than the long-term needs of the country.

The build-up to today’s long-awaited Autumn Statement has been no different. The coalition has been scrambling to come up with measures to ease fears about the cost of living after Labour leader Ed Miliband stole the political initiative with his proposed energy price freeze.

Yet, while the Government still has to convince its critics about the merits of its own plan to limit increases in household fuel bills – the centrepiece of George Osborne’s speech – it is, at least, facing up to the need to secure energy supplies for the medium to long term.

This is illustrated by the coalition’s welcome decision to provide greater financial incentives for those power suppliers who are looking to invest in offshore wind after Ministers recognised the scale of lingering concerns about those unsightly wind turbines which have been erected in the Yorkshire countryside.

At a time when this region continues to find itself on the wrong side of the North-South divide, the significance of this change of emphasis cannot be underestimated – up to 10,000 new jobs could be created along the banks of the Humber if planned schemes now come to fruition on the scale envisaged following this announcement.

Given the need to guarantee future energy supplies, the Government’s challenge now is to deliver this vision after technical reasons led to a similar scheme in the Bristol Channel being abandoned last week.

While Ministers are, rightly, looking to the future, they cannot afford too many more false dawns before concerns grow about their ability to keep the lights burning and the wheels of industry turning.

The human spirit

LESLEY Saunders epitomises the spirit and selflessness of those charity volunteers who give up so much time to help others.

Left bereft when her husband Brian died seven months after sustaining life-changing brain injuries in a road accident, she has subsequently become a tireless advocate for the Hull and East Riding branch of the Headway charity.

Her inspirational efforts have ensured that there are much improved rehabilitation facilities for victims of head injuries, and that their families receive better support.

Shortlisted in a nationwide competition to identify Headway’s volunteer of the year, the charity – whose vice president is the Olympic rower James Cracknell – will struggle to find a more deserving winner than this 
remarkable Yorkshire campaigner who continues to show how adversity 
does invariably bring 
out the very best in 
human nature.