Do we live in a police state?

There are reports in the London media about peace protestors being cleared from outside Parliament. The protestor not evicted is one who has a court injunction forbidding anyone from removing her while her case is being heard.

I had just been discussing with my students how the police can be held to account by the courts. This  shows how important it is that the police can be held to account by someone – the only person who had any protection was the one who had already involved the courts in her case. But it is also alarming that peaceful protestors are being treated this way by the heavy arm of the state.

The state with does not tolerate dissent is a dictatorship. We have become a society that is very intolerant of dissent – or even difference. Do we really want to continue down this road?