This essay, on the debate around “two-tier policing”, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 27 October 2024, under the headline “Our first political prisoner? No. Locking up dissenters is an ignoble British tradition”. In July 1967, the Black Power activist Michael X addressed a meeting in Reading. “The most savage human being in the world,” he told the audience, “is the white man.” He was arrested the following month, charged with inciting racial hatred and sentenced to 12 […]

Categories: Britain, Justice & Liberties • Tags: beast of broadwater farm, birmingham six, broadwater farm, eileen turnbull, guildford four, keith blakelock, lord denning, maguire seven, mangrove nine, michael x, peter lynch, policing, racism, ricky tomlinson, shrewsbury 24, two-tier justice, two-tier policing, winston silcott