That's not news!

So this morning the top story on all breakfast programmes was about the Muslim PC who was allowed to do other duties rather than guarding the Israel embassy during the Lebanese invasion.


It can't of just been me who think this is the press making a storyline out of nothing. All the coverage I saw was trying to make it out to be a huge scandal - with Sky even questioning whether it was the beginning of the end of the police force - certainly completly against my view on the story.


You could understand it more if it had been "PC sacked for refusing to guard embassy" - but it was IMO nothing more than an example of good employer-employee relations!


It's certainly not the first time I've thought the TV media have made a news story out of nothing - I'm not hugely surprised at The Sun's coverage of it, but TV is supposed to be better than that!

I agree there. I just noticed it on the small summary and thought it was a load of nonsense. He asked his boss if we could move and his boss let him. Where's the problem?

stupid news.

It's pure tabloid journalism and no surprises it originated from The Sun.

Because it's the thin edge of the wedge if the police allow themselves to be dictated to by indviduals as to what they will and won't police.

are not at the fat end of the wedge already?

Regardless of his motives or whether you agree or disagree with them, by making the request he had shown he could no longer be relied on to guard the building, so the police hadn't much choice really but to relieve him of that particular duty.

Well... the problem is pretty clear cut.

Whilst this is undeniably tabloid journalism at its best/worst, the issue is that he has joined a service and is refusing to do his duty.

Imagine for a moment a Doctor who is a Jehovah's Witness and refusing to do a transplant... or a firearms officer who will not shoot and kill a man because he is a pacifist... or a paramedic who will not administer drugs tested on animals because he has a moral objection to it.

If you join a public service, such as the police force, you sign up to, frankly, do as your told. Police officers are there to serve the public, and this guy refused to do so. If he were an army officer who refused to go to war, then he'd be out. Same thing should apply here.

i completely disagree with this thread. it's a HUGE story - you can't have a member of the police force refusing to guard somewhere because he hates the people he's guarding.

and tbh he was only let off i reckon because he was a muslim.

but ultimately as well, it's racialism. if a christian or a jew refused to do something for muslims, they would without a doubt be reprimanded or kicked out, and pillared for racialism. this should be the case here.

and cat has it well and truly spot on as well.

What would have happened if he was aJewish officer refusing to protect the Lebanon Embassy for moral reasons. What kind of outcry would there be?

Exactly. What a silly (non) news story.

Bozz

actually that makes it considerably more interesting.

did he actually *refuse* to do it? There's a world of difference between saying to the gaffer that you'd prefer not to do something and saying that you won't do it.