NANA AKUA: Being Christian is now enough to get you cancelled. And any power-hungry busybody can become a 'police officer' with the power to crush our religious freedom. What happened to fighting real crime?
A grotesque abuse of power from a busybody in a police uniform. There is no other way to describe the farcical scene on London's Oxford Street last weekend, recorded by 20-year-old busker Harmonie London and posted to her 300,000 Instagram followers.
In video footage, 'volunteer special constable' Maya Hadzhipetkova tells Ms London she is 'not allowed to sing Christian songs outside of church grounds', before crudely sticking out her tongue.
It was truly shocking. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of pop-star wannabes screeching on our pavements, but this is still – just about – a Christian country, and Ms Hadzhipetkova's intervention was a brazen abuse of power.
First of all, the Special Constable just doesn't know the law. There is nothing to prohibit the singing of religious music on our streets.
But just as concerning as her ignorance of the law is her astonishingly unprofessional behaviour. To stick out her tongue at a member of the public not only falls far short of the standards we set for our public servants, but also diminishes her authority. Frankly, it's plain childish.ded: 0%
At the end of the video the officer stuck her tongue out at the singer as she continued filming
The Met has since apologised, saying: 'The officer was mistaken in saying church songs cannot be sung outside of church grounds.
'We're sorry for the offence caused and will take the learning forward.'
I've seen the video twice and the solution seems clear to me: Ms Hadzhipetkova must be swiftly removed from her role with the force and banned from ever 'serving' the public again.
At a time when trust in the police (and especially the Met) is at an all-time low, this altercation raises further urgent questions of the force.
Perhaps most pertinently: why is the Met relying on unpaid and undertrained volunteer officers to police our streets?
According to the Met's own website, volunteer special constables 'play a vital role in our mission to make London safer' and 'have the same powers as a regular police constable'.
So how much training do these 'vital' constables receive before being equipped with handcuffs and a badge? Just 23 days.
Paid officers, meanwhile, are subjected to a 18 to 22-week training programme before stepping out on their beat.
The volunteer recruits are supposedly trained in 'decision-making, self-motivation, communication, professional standards and integrity'. Evidently not always very well.
To my mind, there are only two reasons people volunteer as unpaid quasi-police officers. They have a genuine desire to serve their communities, or they like the idea of a power-trip. Ms Hadzhipetkova seems to fall into the latter category.
But this fracas also speaks more broadly to our two-tiered approach to religious expression. For too long now, Christians have had to apologise for their faith while those of other creeds proudly – and sometimes aggressively – trumpet their views for all to hear.
If Ms London had been singing the Islamic call to prayer or chanting Yogi mantras, would the police have intervened?
Speaking on GB News, former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe said: 'The point really being illustrated is [that] some people have got a problem in this country with Christianity which they don't appear to have with other faiths.'
Christian singer Harmonie London was back on Oxford Street in London playing yesterday.
Meanwhile, her opponent in that contest – former Glasgow University Muslims Students Association President Humza Yousaf – was lauded for the religious 'diversity' he brought to the office.
Indeed, after his victory, he wasted no time in posting a picture online of his family knelt on prayer mats during their first night in Bute House, the First Minister's official residence.
And, while I might not agree with his politics, it irks me that it was the same story with former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron in 2017. He was hounded out of his position by the woke mob over his conservative social views – in particular his attitude to homosexuality and abortion – and forced to resign, admitting that 'remaining faithful to Christ' had become incompatible with frontline politics.
This is far from the first time that the police have been responsible for such intolerance. British pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was twice arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham last year.
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Harmonie London's case only strengthens my belief that Britain has a two-tier approach to policing religious freedoms. But the disgusting behaviour of Special Constable Maya Hadzhipetkova also raises more urgent questions.
With anti-social behaviour rampant and knife-crime out of control, it beggars belief to witness such pointless and irresponsible bullying.
I'm starting to wonder, is it ignorance, incompetence – or are our men and women in uniform simply too scared to fight real crime any more?
