Fireworks crackdown success exposes link to organised crime

'm sure most Police Scotland officers were dismayed the force did not immediately dismiss a complaint from a trans activist that a woman standing up for her rights had criminally damaged his obviously broken umbrella.

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Nonsense like that, arising from an attempt to disrupt a demonstration by the For Women Scotland movement outside Holyrood, is the kind of incident which undermines public confidence when most people have experiences of real crimes going unsolved, and of genuinely antisocial behaviour unchallenged.

What restores faith is effective operations, such as we saw last week when there was no repeat of the Bonfire Night rioting of recent years.

Not only did intelligence gathering bear fruit, with the seizure of two consignments of pyrotechnics heading for Edinburgh from Fife and West Lothian, but speaking to senior police officers this week, the disruption of serious criminal activity in the months beforehand has paid unexpected dividends.