Thursday 11 April
Got home very late last night after a really interesting discussion at Wisborough Green Village Hall in West Sussex. We were joined by a former senior detective with many years service, who despaired of the state of policing.
His main argument was that we have lost much of the detective and intelligence-gathering capability of the police through cuts and loss of experienced, seasoned coppers.
I had a chat with the manager of the Tesco in Billingshurst about looting. It’s the same story everywhere. Organised theft, little or no police response, staff insulted and abused. Earlier in the day I’d witnessed a shoplifter walk out of a Tesco with a crate of Corona beers. He didn’t have a care in the world.
This was the day Rishi Sunak joined my Conservative opponent in a staged walkabout in Horsham to announce a screeching U-Turn. Under pressure from Usdaw, the Co-op, and Labour’s front bench, the Tories will now make assaulting a shop worker a specific offence. Good. But it’s a bit rich given they’ve been arguing against it for months.
My Conservative opponent has aligned her stars firmly with the fate of the Prime Minister. Her public appearance with Sunak yesterday makes it clear to all: she is Sunak’s representative in Sussex.
Now, it’s off to Hastings Old Town, and this evening to Bognor Regis at the other end of Sussex. All this travelling reminds me of two things: the creaking state of the railway, and the variegated beauty of our county of Sussex.
