As a former officer, I’m horrified by England and Wales’s Police Bill – opendemocracy.net

Richard Ecclestone
I have been on both sides of the protest fence. In the 1990s, I attended a series of anti-roads protests in Devon wearing a police uniform in my role as a police inspector. More recently, I have been taking part in Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests in London, Cornwall and Scotland wearing an XR badge and acting as police liaison for the movement.
As a result, I feel confident in saying that the impending Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill could spell the end of the already-battered belief of many people in England and Wales that those who police them are doing so with their consent.