Critical National Infrastructure Police - more fucking Plods - just what we need in a time of crisis

Spy blog busily and astutely watching them watching us, alerts us to a curiously (leaked ? placed ?) article in the Mail on Sunday by Jason Lewis

Anti-terror patrols secretly stepped up at power stations

Massive expansion of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary is being secretly planned to protect Britain's most vulnerable terrorist targets.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that it will be transformed into the Critical National Infrastructure Police and mount armed patrols around all key installations nationwide, including power stations, phone and computer networks, oil and gas pipelines, ports and airports.

Secret negotiations also include taking over responsibility for protecting Government buildings and key economic targets.

...Richard Thompson, a former Foreign Office counter-terrorism expert who has served in Iraq, took over the force in June last year and has been carrying out strategic reviews to prepare for its expanded role.

The intention is that the force, which has a £50million-a-year budget, will have more officers and take over policing other power stations, critical telecom buildings, gas installations, fuel dumps, airports and other key terror targets

....The Critical National Infrastructure force is expected to be announced as part of Security Minister Lord West's review of Britain's preparedness for terrorism.

Spy Blog points out that Whilst it might make sense to have some 24/7 armed protection for, say, the Balgzand (Netherlands) to Bacton (Norfolk) gas pipeline terminal, covered extensively here when Bacton had an explosion earlier this year - Friday, April 04, 2008 - Friday, April 04, 2008 IslamoFascist transatlantic airplane toilet terror liquid exploding baby bomb plot and an explosion at Bacton Gas teminal ) Tuesday, March 04, 2008 The Bigger the Bang - The Louder the silence No 17 : Massive gas Explosion at Nyagan, Siberia covered up... and gas cuts to Ukraine ?? Friday, February 29, 2008 Bacton - Pipelines blowing up - Press shutting up - gas price going up.

As ever Spy Blog has expertly filleted this proposal to extend and expand a secretive, unaccountable armed force, and raises some ( well quite a lot - 18 in total up to press) Obvious Spy Blog Questions - go and read them and consider. e.g;

# - Why should these armed guards be called "Police" when they should actually be a military unit ?
# - Other countries civil nuclear facilities or Government buildings are protected with anti-aircraft missiles and heavy machine guns, armoured fighting vehicles, attack helicopters etc. Surely the Critical National Infrastructure Police will not be expected to just use pistols and sub machine guns, and unarmoured police vehicles ? ?

# - Will the Critical National Infrastructure Police have their own bomb disposal expertise ?

Sp Blog also raises some fascinating points about the newly uniformed Border Police and their role in working with these new Plods/ Gendarmerie and the murky under world of hired military muscle.

IanPJ at the Libertarian Party blog remarks ;

With every incidence of new armed, empowered Police forces answerable only to politicians, it weakens the role of our real Police, sworn Police Officers who swear allegiance to the Crown.

Classic totalitarian tactics.

Of course, with the incapacity of British Energy to keep all the ageing, clapped out, outdated , nuclear reactors working (for deatails see analysis of last years Annual Report see Wednesday, May 28, 2008 British Energy; lamentable tale of management incompetence and national decline in engineering and reliance on the nation's critical energy supplies ) their will be precious little for this shiny new Gendarmerie to protect and precious little for them to do.