Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. President to Britain. GWB was accommodated at Buckingham Palace, the first US president to have stayed there since Woodrow Wilson about 90 years ago. I hope our anti-war demonstrators weren't too impolite. We have strong links with America and a special relationship, so it was a time to consider the white piece of paper and not the black dot, were one to exist.
Security was intense, and involved 5000 of our own police in an operation costing £5m or about $8m.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/18/nbush18.xml About 250 American security agents, many armed, will also be on duty. They have not been granted diplomatic immunity and will be subject to the British legal system if they open fire.
But the increased security for GWB came at a price for Londoners. Street muggings and robberies increased by 20% in this period because of the 5000 police being drafted away from their normal duties. Story:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F11%2F26%2Fnrob26.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=74252I suppose this was to be expected, and now that those police have resumed normal duties, muggings and robberies have fallen to "normal" levels. I believe that if we had MORE police, the incidence of street robbery could be driven down still further. I think this is a better and more effective way of tackling street crime than some alternatives that are sometimes suggested.
But that would cost money, and it must be remembered that we have a government which squanders £638m on a white elephant like the Millennium Dome, and then can't find the money for extra police.
And builds idiotic, infrequently used bus lanes on the motorway between Heathrow Airport and London.
