{"id":82650,"date":"2025-05-27T07:45:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T06:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=82650"},"modified":"2025-05-27T07:45:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T06:45:21","slug":"the-police-must-not-take-the-risk-of-being-prejudiced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/05\/27\/the-police-must-not-take-the-risk-of-being-prejudiced\/","title":{"rendered":"The police must not take the risk of being prejudiced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like, I suspect, everyone, I was shocked to hear the news from Liverpool<\/a> last night, where a man drove his car into a crowd celebrating Liverpool's Premier League victory, injuring around 50 people, two of whom are in serious condition.<\/p>\n

I am as shocked to note the police response.<\/p>\n

They are saying the man under arrest is aged 53, white, a businessman, and this is not a terrorist incident.<\/p>\n

The last point depends on definitions: time will tell.<\/p>\n

I am worried about the suggestion that being white was important.<\/p>\n

I am as shocked that it was necessary to refer to this person as a 'businessman'.<\/p>\n

Both of these hints point to attitudes revealing prejudice, in my opinion. Why is it relevant that the man is white? And the reference to being a 'businessman' looks to be an attempt to suggest that the apprehended person has status in society, as if that matters.<\/p>\n

The dangerous possibility that could follow is that these two claims are being used as evidence to support the suggestion that this is not terrorism, and that the three claims are, therefore, implicitly linked. If so, that is very worrying, revealing a deep prejudice on the part of those issuing this statement, that in turn is pandering to far-right thinking, even if it turns out that these are just statements of fact.<\/p>\n

I will be watching this because we are living in dangerous times, and there is a risk that Merseyside police are saying something deeply divisive at this moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like, I suspect, everyone, I was shocked to hear the news from Liverpool last night, where a man drove his car into a crowd celebrating
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