2 ms·
> The UK is a police state. The UK is further from being a police state than the USA is. And despite what Trump has been doing, both are nowhere near being th
by ben_w 1y ago
> The UK is a police state.
The UK is further from being a police state than the USA is.
And despite what Trump has been doing, both are nowhere near being that.
I mean, UK cops aren't even routinely given firearms… and the cops themselves don't want to change that.
- linuxftw 1y agoI'll be the first to tell you, police in the USA are absolute tyrants. You can be killed for mouthing off to the police here, and likely nothing will happen to them. We don't jail people for tweets though.
- ben_w 1y ago> We don't jail people for tweets though https://reason.com/2025/10/10/tennessee-man-arrested-gets-2-million-bond-for-posting-facebook-meme/?nab=1 https://reason.com/2025/10/10/tennessee-man-arrested-gets-2-...
- ninalanyon 1y agoThat UK police do not carry firearms really has nothing to do with whether the UK is heading in the direction of being a police state. Firearms are no more necessary for oppression than the private possession of them is sufficient to fight against it. > and the cops themselves don't want to change that. I think that you will find that there is a minority of UK police who would welcome being armed with deadly weapons. Here's an article from 2017: "A national survey carried out by the Police Federation of England and Wales found more than a third of officers supported the idea of routinely being armed, compared to 23 per cent when the last survey was carried out in 2006. Another 55 per cent said they would be prepared to carry a gun if asked to – up more than 10 per cent." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/armed-police-numbers-rise-uk-guns-tasers-terror-attacks-federation-survey-england-wales-a7963626.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/armed-police...