28 September 201420 December 2022 4WardEverUK

‘Hillsborough survivors have always been there for us.. and we’re here for them’

source: Liverpool Echo
published: 24 September 2014

For many witnesses, notably the survivors, the Hillsborough inquests have been or will be a very tough and traumatic process played out in the public eye, but it’s a process that couldn’t proceed without their crucial contributions.

We have previously written about the value of the touching tributes family members presented at the start of the hearings in Warrington. These poignant testimonies were packed with emotion and difficult for family members to give, but individuals who were at Hillsborough being called to share their painful memories and, potentially, be cross-examined by several barristers takes things to another level.

22 July 201420 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police access to phone records becomes law

source: Telegraph
published: 17 July 2014

Emergency legislation giving the police and security services access to people’s phone and internet records cleared the Lords today will become law.

Peers took just two hours to push through the remaining stages of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill, which was then given Royal Assent from the Queen.

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22 June 201420 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Water cannon: policing by consent?

source: The Justice Gap
published: June 2014

On 10 June, the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) announced that it had given the Metropolitan Police Service permission to purchase three second-hand water cannons, pre-empting the Home Secretary’s authority for the weapons to be used on the British mainland.

Since that announcement, debate has raged about the safety of the weapons and their capacity to kill or to maim, culminating in Boris Johnson’s offer to be ‘blasted’ by water cannon to ‘prove’ their safety.

This is the wrong debate.