Today is the day after two police officers were shot and killed in Manchester. It is a very sad day for anyone in or connected with our great police services of the UK. Indeed it is a sad day for anyone who cares about community safety. Or who just simply cares that two young women, who had so much to look forward to in their lives, are no longer with us. I guess that is all of us, really.
My deepest and sincerest sympathies go out to all the people who knew PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes: their families, their friends, their colleagues... everyone. No words of mine can help their pain and grief.
I am not going to seek to make political capital out of this tragic event. Not only because this is really not the time to do this, but also because there are no simple links to make to either police cuts, arming the police or even to reintroducing the death penalty. It is far more complex than that.
And sadly it is also more ordinary than that too. As I understand things at the moment, these two police officers were answering a regular call for help and then were cruelly ambushed and shot. It is risk that the police face all the time (and also many other public servants) who go into places where there might be serious danger.
I count myself fortunate to live in a country where these occurrences are very rare. I am so humbled by the fact that we have police officers, staff and other public servants who are brave enough to risk their lives every day to keep our society safe and secure. If you are one of those people, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
This piece is about honouring PCs Bone & Hughes... and everyone else who will carry on doing what they did yesterday.
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