Our courageous police force is the pride of Britain

IN this summer of rage and turmoil, the police have taken a battering. As public order frays, their authority is under constant challenge. Outrage in the US over racism and brutality has led radical agitators in Britain to demand the defunding, even the abolition, of constabularies.

- Leo McKinstry

Meanwhile, the cowardice of too many politicians and senior commanders has hamstrung officers’ ability to uphold the law in the face of unruly protests, vandalism and thuggery.

Yet even under tremendous pressure, the rank and file carry on heroically, putting themselves in harm’s way on our behalf.

Nothing encapsulates that dauntless spirit better than the remarkable bravery shown by the Thames Valley police during the atrocity at a park in Reading on Saturday evening, where a knifeman went on the rampage, killing three people and injuring nine others. Yesterday, the force described the crime as “a terrorist incident” and named the suspect as Khairi Saadallah, a refugee from Libya.

Although savage, the death toll could have been even higher had it not been for the astonishing courage of Thames Valley officers, one of whom rugby-tackled the killer to the ground, while others rushed to the aid of the casualties.

AT A moment of lethal threat, officers were willing to put their lives on the line to save others. Their valiant actions put into stark perspective all the fashionable drivel from the far-Left about police heavy-handedness.