News

HOWARD'S WAY.... a weekly column from Michael Howard MP

9 November 2006

 

It’s not often that our area makes the national news headlines but it certainly did last week – and not for reasons we would have chosen. 

The incident that gave us this unwanted national attention was the shooting by a police officer of a suspected robber in New Romney.  And the attention was heightened by reports that the officer concerned had also been involved in a very highly publicised shooting in London last year. 

Every shooting of this kind is a matter of regret and the concern is obviously much greater when death follows.  Quite rightly there is to be an independent inquiry into what happened and we should not prejudge its outcome.  But we do well to remember that we ask police officers to take great risks on our behalf and that applies as much, if not more, to firearms officers as to any other officer. 

And one postscript.  As I was leaving the BBC studios in London after giving an interview on this subject, I bumped into an American journalist I know.  He simply could not believe that this was the only occasion on which a suspect had been shot dead by a police officer in the whole country this year.  I am not suggesting that we follow the American example in this area – far from it.  But it does help to put things in perspective. 

On a very different matter I was sad to read of the retirement, through ill health, of Bob Dix, the long-serving Chairman of Folkestone Invicta Football Club.  Those of us who have followed the club through all its ups and downs in recent seasons know what a tremendous job Bob has done. 

We wish him a speedy recovery to full health and a long and happy retirement.