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BIRMINGHAM, England, October 29, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The politician responsible for the UK police force in the West Midlands area has stated that he will order the police to break up family gatherings around Christmas if they violate the government’s rule of six.” 

David Jamieson made the comments to the Telegraph, stating that “If we think there’s large groups of people gathering where they shouldnt be, then police will have to intervene. If, again, there’s flagrant breaking of the rules, then the police would have to enforce.” 

Jamieson then referred to the Christmas period, saying “it’s not the police’s job to stop people enjoying their Christmas. However, we are there to enforce the rules that the government makes, and if the government makes those rules then the government has to explain that to the public.” 

“The police are there to enforce it and keep people safe,” he continued, “they’re not there to make judgments about whether people should enjoy themselves or not.” 

Jamieson, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for West Midlands Police (WMP), oversees the department and has the power to appoint and fire the chief constable. 

His comments were more cautiously supported by the PCC for the Merseyside area, who stated that police would “investigate” reports of family gatherings occurring that contravened the existing laws. 

Despite Jamieson’s promise of house inspections over Christmas, he also acknowledged that civil unrest and “riots” were “very likely” in the near future, and mentioned that “we’re sitting on a time bomb here.” 

He added, “We’re getting very near the stage where you could see a considerable explosion of frustration and energy. Things are very on the edge in a lot of communities and it wouldn’t take very much to spark off unrest, riots, damage.” 

The PCC’s interview refers to the UK government’s rule of six, which widely outlaws any gathering of more than six people, with some exceptions, including for religious ceremonies. The rule arrives in conjunction with the recent threetier system that divides the country into alert levels of “medium, high, very high.” 

Jay Singh-Sohal, a candidate for Jamieson’s position as PCC in next year’s election, stated that the PCC’s role “is to hold the force to account NOT operational policing.” He described the comments as “a clear breach” and declared he would be ask the supervisory panel to investigate Jamieson. 

Police in the UK have long been described as “citizens in uniform,” operating under the policy of policing by consent. This concept is based on nine policies of policing, of which the second states that the power of the police “is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.”  

The principles also warn against the police becoming heavyhanded law enforcers, teaching instead that they “maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give fulltime attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.” 

However, in more recent times, these principles seem to have been dropped, as only days before Jamieson’s comments, Welsh police made headlines as they entered a Christian church on Sunday evening and ordered the congregation to return home. 

Numerous videos have also emerged of police violence in response to anti-lockdown protests occurring in London in recent weeks, with some footage showing the police beating non-violent protestors with batons and throwing them onto the ground.  

In addition, Parliament is soon to approve the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill, which would allow government agents to break the law when they deemed necessary. The bill does not rule out excessive violence, rape, murder or torture.