Civil Protection Miscellany

The London Underground has an amazing safety record.  This is one of only a handful of serious accidents in its history.  It took place on a branch of the Northern Line that is now part of the Network Rail line from Drayton Park.  The accident was a huge shock to the people of London.  The rescue operation was lengthy and difficult.  For reasons which are still not clear, the driver failed to stop and crashed into the end of the tunnel at platform nine.  The larger than usual tunnel bore allowed the carriages to jack knife.  I was at school and remember that a documentary about the Bethnal Green Tube Shelter disaster was due to be shown on the television in the same week.  It was cancelled.  The responders from the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service, City of London, Metropolitan and British Transport Police did an incredible job alongside staff from local hospitals and London Transport. This part of Moorgate Station is dirty ...

The Home Secretary has announced a proposed Police Covenant and has launched a public consultation.  This is a consultation that is worth responding to.  Unfortunately the consultation is in a questionnaire format  which is constructed to give advantage to the government's proposals: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/police-covenant-for-england-and-wales?utm_source=a44f6807-6420-4347-b4e6-ec345e8f0486&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate The idea of a Police Covenant comes from the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC).  I am not well placed to judge the success of the AFC but it is obvious that members of the armed forces do face particular and unique challenges.  In practical terms, for example, the requirement to be absent from home and the potential for frequent disruptions to family life by changing postings etc is factor that can be part mitigated by the promise of continuity in the provision of public ser...