The police are in a pickle of their own making

If it wasn’t for how stupid their actions were, you could almost feel sorry for the police over the furore that has followed the arrest of Damian Green. If you asked any spin doctor what the police should do in these circumstances, they’d tell you that the plod should leak some details of the investigation that cast it in a better light. But, obviously, leaking isn’t an option for them in this case.

As it is, we go into the weekend wondering why nine counter-terrorism officers were involved in this investigation when it appears that British citizens might, once more, have been the perpetrators of terrorist attacks abroad. This raises, to put it mildly, question about the police’s priorities.

Those of us who took the police at their word when they talked about how overstretched they were when it came to terrorist investigations and how they desperately needed more powers and more help will now have to reconsider our position.