Some of the best things about Britain are its ancient traditions. You know the sort of thing... red pillar-boxes, afternoon tea, rolling green fields and bobbies on the beat?

Hang on a minute! Scrub that last one. When was the last time you heard a police officer seriously referred to as a bobby? The British bobby was a friendly and approachable figure who stood on street corners and would happily have passed the time of day or given you directions to the nearest post office. Today’s police officers dress in fluorescent jackets, wield batons and carry pepper spray on their belts. They stalk our streets with aggressively short haircuts, snarling at the law-abiding middle class of this country with utter contempt. They seem to be more interested in promoting political correctness, ethnic diversity or loading another roll of film into their beloved Gatso speed cameras than keeping the peace.

Am I over-reacting? I don’t think so. Although I haven’t personally had any brushes with the law, my opinion of Her Majesty’s constabulary has been sinking rapidly over the past decade. And the other day it reached an all-time low when unelected chief constables were used to put pressure on elected MPs at the behest of Tony Blair. This was further compounded by an event closer to home on the same day.

An acquaintance of mine was telling me how her young daughter was driving from university to her home in Bath. The girl is only 19 years old and has recently passed her driving test. Because there is no test centre in Bath, the girl learned to drive in Chippenham and isn’t too familiar with Bath’s road layout.

Soon she found herself in the wrong lane and heading towards the city’s bus gate – a local council ‘initiative’ that forbids ordinary motorists from passing through a main city street. Taxis and buses are allowed to pass through this innocuous-looking set of traffic lights, but between the hours of 8.30AM and 6.30PM, private cars, vans and lorries are not.

A very helpful policewoman waved the girl through the traffic lights and then flagged her down in order to issue a £30 fixed penalty for the offence. It was quite clear that the girl had made an innocent mistake and had even been encouraged through the busgate by the officer. Indeed, given that the centre of Bath is a forest of road signs and directives – and confusing for those of us who have lived here all our lives – it must have been very difficult for the novice driver. However, the girl was duly processed and ticketed.

Only a few years ago any reasonable officer would have sent her on her way with a suitable admonishment and a warning not to do such a thing again. Sadly, those times are long gone. Well done to that woman police officer. Yet another decent and otherwise law-abiding member of the public alienated from the police for life. Another middle-class criminal brought to book; another £30 for the government coffers. Excellent work!

The story I’ve recounted will probably be familiar to many readers. All too often we hear how individuals with unblemished driving records or a history of good behaviour have fallen foul of some petty gauleiter out to fill a quota of tickets or arrests. These days, police officers seem to spend much of their time plucking the low-hanging fruit represented by motorists or minor transgressors of petty government diktats. In effect, the police have become Blair’s Brownshirts as they set about assiduously enforcing the latest bans and crackdowns. Is it any wonder that the country grows restive and fractured as common sense seeps away from law enforcement? Have the police sold out in return for the government turning a blind eye to their Spanish practices and guaranteeing their gold-plated pensions?

Sadly, I can’t honestly say whether I would even bother coming to the aid of a police officer any more. And that comes from someone who has always strongly supported law and order. I simply don’t feel the police are part of civil society any longer. They have become more like the French gendarmerie –a paramilitary force that lives a barrack-style existence, sealed off from the public and rarely interacting with those it is supposed to serve.

I don’t hold out much hope for any change in this state of affairs. And yet, if we are to fight terror the police are so concerned about, they will need the help of the middle classes more than ever. Surely it’s time to reinstate common sense and depoliticise the police. It’s time they took off their fluorescent jackets, rolled up their sleeves and reconnected with the British public. If not they will have only themselves to blame when there’s a major breakdown in law and order and the middle classes stand idly by with their hands in their pockets.

Epilogue

The young lady in question returned to university a few days later but was inexplicably stopped just outside Salisbury by the police and ordered to report to her local police station with her driving licence, insurance documents and MOT certificate.

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