As Scotland continues to boast the riots that hit much of the wider UK didn’t materialise here, it’s worth asking ourselves not why, but what if? If thuggery, wanton destruction, looting, assaults and violence against communities and police officers had occurred - how would we have responded?

In the past few years Scotland has passed legislation that flies completely in the face of the police and justice tactics deployed in response to the riots. Our politicians sit in circles patting themselves on the back over how much fairer our justice system is, while those working in, or wading through its tortuously slow reality have entirely different experiences. We have more alternatives to prison, more diversions from prosecution, fewer people held in police custody and fewer being remanded pending trial. None of which were even considered for restoring order south of the Border.

We are forever being told Scotland is a progressive country (whatever that means) yet those who would be first to permanently tattoo their libertarian values onto their foreheads were quick to show just how “right-wing” and “intolerant” they were prepared to be when the chips were down.

A robust police response was not enough - some good old-fashioned police brutality was needed. They wanted heads knocked, and hard aggressive tactics from the bobbies behind the shields. They wanted homes raided, kids taken into care. They wanted people locked up - lots of people, and for a very long time indeed. They wanted mobile phones, laptops, entire internet histories searched. No word of state overreach........

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