More ammo for the PC brigade

THE FRIDAY THING: STOP and search has long been one of the most controversial weapons in the armoury of the police.

Some time ago the tactic was scaled down - on political rather than crime-prevention grounds - because the politically-correct brigade decided it had fallen foul of the “R” word (as in racist).

It will thus be interesting to see what happens when police from Romania, Lithuania and Poland join our own bobbies in finding crooks from those three countries currently operating over here.

Eight of the 12 most wanted European criminals from those three countries are currently walking our streets, confident they can go on breaching our laws with their guns, drugs and prostitution rings.

The criminals are entirely comfortable operating in the UK, even going as far as to bring cars registered at home to carry out their crimes here.

The foreign detectives should be able to help in identifying the crooks but what will happen if and when they get sent to court? Will the “R” word raise its head again, forcing officers to stand back?

And then there is the European Court of Human Wrongs.

What will the occupiers of that house of fun and games make of the fact that we are letting police from other countries chase their criminal citizens over here so we can kick them out or lock them up?

They will probably get wheelbarrows full of euros to compensate them for the trauma of being stopped and searched by the police and, of course, offered free flights home. Well, that or be entitled to bring their wives and families to live over here permanently at our expense. A joke? No, watch this space.



FINAL WORD: I could never lay claim to be a fashion icon — but I do wonder if the latest manly fashion trait will make an appearance in Oldham.

The in-thing (I can’t imagine who it could be “in” with) is what you might call the shuit.

It’s a smart jacket, neat shirt and trendy tie... with short trousers (yes, like most of we mere boys wore when we were seven).

The big question is what will these fashion seekers do when it rains. Will they wear wellies?

If you see someone in short pants and wellies and over the age of seven, send us a picture.