It's a long while since I've been moved on by the police, but it happened last month. I'd popped into my local town to support students from the Wiltshire branch of Teach the Future who'd been doing banner drops (where the trick, I learned, is not to actually drop it, but to drape it carefully) and other actions. I caught up with them outside the Local Government offices where they were trying to raise the conscience of the county by loudhailer and pithy messages chalked on the roadway. Some of the latter, it has to be said, were less than complimentary about Gav the Lad.
Anyway, there we were, when an old bloke (older even than me) pitched up on his scooter. On learning what the protest was about, he suggested that targeted assassination might be an appropriate strategy. Whether that was of county councillors or MPs wasn't clear. He scuttled off as soon as the police turned up, and so it wasn't possible to ask.
The constabulary – actually two young(ish) PCSOs – pitched up, having been alerted by "a concerned member of the public about alleged criminal damage to council property". This turned out to be the physical impact of chalk on the road. I know!
We had a nice chat to the PCSOs who explained what was what. One of them turned out to be a teacher of a couple of the students before he'd abandoned the white board for a life on the streets. It was hardly the Battle of Orgreave, but it wasn't nothing either.
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