Being British XIII

[Equinox Chick]

No one other than the Police have powers of arrest (there are exceptions – such as immigration and customs officers), but if someone was to be arrested, the Police would take the lead.

Well, there's that thing called Citizen's Arrest, but I have no idea how that works.

[Sapphire at Dawn]

Someone preformed a Citizen's Arrest on some guy who robbed a tent when I was at Glastonbury one year. They basically wrestled him to the ground and kept him there until the police came. Not sure how that qualifies as a Citizen's Arrest, but apparently it did.

Sarah x

[Northumbrian]

Someone preformed a Citizen's Arrest on some guy who robbed a tent when I was at Glastonbury one year. They basically wrestled him to the ground and kept him there until the police came. Not sure how that qualifies as a Citizen's Arrest, but apparently it did.

Sarah x

That's pretty much what a citizen's arrest is. It dates back to medieval common law and the hue and cry (I love medieval history). In medieval times, if someone raised the hue and cry, the citizenry (or baying mob) could chase a fleeing felon and, if they caught him, kick the living daylights out of him. These days you're restricted to "reasonable force".

If you witness someone committing a indictable offence (that's one which could be tried in a Crown Court - and I have no idea which offences they are, sorry), or if they confess to you, you can nick them. But:
Only if there isn't a Constable available to do it.
And you are preventing injury, loss or damage of property, or preventing escape (that's how a "store detective" can nick you for shoplifting).
In all cases you have to hand them over to the Constable when PC Plod finally arrives, and if Plod decides to let them go, that's it.

There's always the possibility that you could also be arrested for assault (though if you’re a granny battering scooter-riding and helmet-wearing youths around the head while stopping them from robbing a jewellers, you’re probably going to be okay).

Neil

[Tim the Enchanter]

Does anyone know what exactly happens if the Prime Minister has been deemed mentally unfit to serve as PM? In a fic I'm planning, Voldemort Imperiuses the PM (John Major), but the strange/disturbing orders he issues (like shutting off water/power, disbanding police, bombing downtown London, attacking foreign countries, etc.) convinces people that the Prime Minister is not exactly in the right mental state and cannot remain in his position.

But what happens next? Does the PM's party (Conservative) simply choose a replacement? Would the opposition call for a vote of no confidence against the strange-acting Prime Minister? Could the Queen dissolve Parliament and announce new elections? What is most likely to happen given the above scenario?

Tim the Enchanter

[eyeofthetiger]

Okay, thanks everyone. That helps me out a lot.

[Equinox Chick]

Could the Queen dissolve Parliament and announce new elections?

No, she can only dissolve Parliament if the PM tells her to.

Does anyone know what exactly happens if the Prime Minister has been deemed mentally unfit to serve as PM?

Depends on how strong the government is and how loyal his party members and govt ministers are. Maggie Thatcher was forced out of office because her party MPs decided that they'd lose the election with her in power. They elected John Major and won in ... 92, I think.

Who is deeming him mentally unfit - a proper doctor or just his party members? His position would be untenable if a doc had declared him offically to be insane.

If his party stand by him, then it would be up to the opposition to declare no confidence in the government. They'd hold a vote, but as they are the Oppostion and thus have less seats in Parliament, then they're unlikely to win. In that era, the ruling party had a strong majority and only if the three parties bandied together (with the Ulster MP's, too) would they be able to declare a motion of no confidence in the government.

Then there'd be a General Election.

In reality, very few serving members of the ruling Government are going to vote against their party because they could well lose their seat and thus their job.

If the ruling party get rid of their leader, then the deputy will take command until a new leader is chosen. Each party has different rules about how the leaders are chosen. For the conservatives it's MP's and Party members (I'm unsure of the proportion, but I think MP's hold greater sway). For Labour, the power tends to be held by the unions. Not sure about Lib Dems ... is anyone?

bombing downtown London,

Just so you know, we'd never refer to any part of London or the UK as 'downtown' - that's very firmly American.

~Carole~

[Midnight Storm]

Hello there, Brits!

Mild terms for 'stupid person'? I seem to have used 'drongo' about eighty times in the fic that I'm working on, before remembering that's not even slightly British (*facepalm*). Any suggestions?

[babewithbrains]

Mild terms for 'stupid person'?

Ooh! I use these pretty much every day -- it's usually directed at my brothers, who are actually pretty smart.

Dopey, stupid, idiot, git, thick-headed, thick, dumb, ignorant, foolish, fool, imbecile, moron, twat and arsehole are my favourites. There are loads of others, but I use imbecile a lot, I have to say. Oh, and when I'm insulting my little brother, I just call him a silly boy or a brat and it makes him cry

God, I can be sadistic.

~Soraya~

[Equinox Chick]

My personal favourite is 'muppet'

I also like twonk and prat. In the eighties and nineties, we used to use 'wallie' a lot. Not sure it's used much now, but it made us laugh.

~Carole~

Oh, and drongo ... I think I've only heard of that in Neighbours.

[Northumbrian]

Here are a few more.

Pillock, berk (warning: etymologically very rude indeed, but considered mild these days), cretin, wazzock (definitely a northern one), pilchard, plonker (definitely a southern one, but it went national thanks to Del Boy and Rodders).

Neil