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Police officers are being forced to make "ludicrous" arrests in an attempt to hit Home Office targets, it has been claimed. Ridiculous examples include the case of a Cheshire man who was cautioned for being "found in possession of an egg with intent to throw". In Kent, a child was arrested for throwing a slice of cucumber from a tuna sandwich at another youngster, while a was boy arrested for throwing a cream bun on a school bus.

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

The Government is considering introducing new offences to combat the threat from al Qaida and other extremists. Home Secretary David Blunkett said his controversial internment powers will remain an "essential component" of the Government's anti-terrorism measures. But extending similar powers to British citizens would be a "grave step" which would be "difficult to justify", he said. It was a significant watering down of comments made by Mr Blunkett three weeks ago during an official visit to India when he called for a debate on whether the standard of proof should be lowered to make it easier to secure terror convictions....