Parliamentary candidate searched by police
On Waterloo Bridge on Friday, 22nd July, Andrew Otchie was stopped by seven armed police officers and searched.
Passers-by clearly believed Mr Otchie to be a terrorist (otherwise, why would the police have stopped him?). Andrew,
who stood as a Christian Peoples Alliance candidate for Northampton (North) in the General Election this year, is
of course not a terrorist, but you will understand that he was rather shaken up by the incident.
Shortly before the search, a man had been shot dead by police - possibly because he was a terrorist, but possibly simply
because he was running away from people chasing him with guns. At the time, it was not known which. Andrew was aware of the shooting,
and was thus understandably rather nervous. Fortunately for him, he had the good sense to stay put and do precisely
what he was told. But it could easily have ended in tragedy.
Andrew Otchie
So - if armed police stop you in the street, on balance it is probably safer to stop and let them subject you
to the humiliation of a search, rather than to run away and get shot dead for your trouble. But once you've
been searched, I suggest you get the names and numbers of the officers concerned, note the time and place, and
make a complaint to the Chief Constable.
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorise. Andrew Otchie was stopped and searched because London is beginning to feel
the grip of terror. Had he panicked and run (not through guilt, but through fear - men with guns are scary), he
could easily have been shot dead. The police are in danger of achieving the terrorists' objectives for them. Yes, let
London be vigilant. Yes, let us do all we can to track down criminal lunatics who explode bombs. But please, London,
don't live in fear. Watchfulness is good, but fear will destroy the city if you let it.
Update, 27 July: according to Sir Ian Blair, there have been at least 250 such incidents since last Thursday (21st).
Andrew informs me that the team that stopped him included not just seven armed officers, but also a jeep, car, and
a police boat! He thinks he was probably in the sights of one or more police marksmen at the time he was stopped.
Yesterday, Tony Blair revealed further anti-terror measures - holding suspects without charge for three months
(it's just as well these measures weren't in place when Andrew was stopped!), and accessing suspect Web sites and
bookshops. Andrew wonders if this Web site counts as a "suspect site"...
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