Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
When the occasion has arisen there have indeed been checkpoints in Aldershot and Tidworth and at our airports and docks and I am afraid they will be, occasionally we hope, a fact of life in this uncertain world we now live in. If you go past any barracks in the UK you will see armed guards on sentry duty.

I grant you that "the troubles" caused an extreme measure by the Civil Administration to call in the British Army, nevertheless I think that everyone of whatever persuasion will have to admit that there were people behaving appallingly badly and yes the British army too on occasion. So yes you are, I am afraid, being naive.
You can't say armed guards on sentry duty outside a barracks are the same as soldiers patrolling the whole city, and doing random checks on people and houses.
There is also a difference between having 'occassional' check points, and a permanent stop and search check point on my road for 30 years.

From what I've read on this forum you always have insightful and intelligent comments, the majority of which I agree with. However, I can't agree with you on this. I know what I grew up experiencing, and it wasn't civil administration.