99. Cops and Catholics

99. Cops and Catholics

The cops are what Robert Peel’s best remembered for. Thanks to him, the world’s first professional, civilian police force was launched. It hasn’t always lived up to initial expectations, with London’s Metropolitan Police going through particularly difficult times just now but, boy, it’s an initiative that has left its mark. And not just in Britain.

There was controversy about setting up a police force, with some resisting the idea of paying people to keep an eye on them and make sure they behaved. To libertarians, that felt like an incursion on basic freedoms. But far more controversial still was the extension of political rights to non-Anglican religious groups.

First, it was dissident Protestants, and Peel had to change his tune to support their emancipation.

But next it was the Catholics, and his U-turn was even more shocking. Nicknamed ‘Orange Peel’ for is backing for the Protestant (Orange) cause, it was astonishing to see him leading the charge for Catholic Emancipation in 1829. But Peel's dramatic changes of view would astonish a lot of people, a lot of times in his career.


Illustration: Photograph of a ‘Peeler’ of the 1850s. Public domain (PD-US-expired).

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Episoder(275)

146. Churchill problem, Salisbury solution

146. Churchill problem, Salisbury solution

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145. Ireland denied, Conservatism dominant

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It was heartbreak time for Parnell. He’d spent eleven years in parliament, leading to the emergence of a powerful Irish Parliamentary Party that eventual won the balance of power. That put Home Rule, ...

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144. The storm breaks: first squall

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143. The 86 of 86

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142. The storm clouds gather

142. The storm clouds gather

After nearly five years in power, the strains inside the second Gladstone government were beginning to show. Indeed, both main parties were having trouble, above all with their respective awkward squa...

14 Mai 202314min

141. Success at last

141. Success at last

As the second Gladstone government approached its end, it had little enough to point to as major successes. Some measures had been passed to try to pacify Ireland, but that sad country was still far f...

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140. From Grand Old Man to Murderer of Gordon

140. From Grand Old Man to Murderer of Gordon

After the Phoenix Park murders, there was a bit of a hiatus in Parnell’s campaign for Irish Home Rule, while he consolidated his grip on the movement, guiding it firmly into the path of constitutional...

30 Apr 202314min

139. Of Love and Death, Prison and Murder

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The passage of the Land Act for Ireland provided many tenant farmers with a wonderful way of getting their rents reduced. Sadly, that benefit had a downside, as it undermined the enthusiasm for contin...

23 Apr 202314min

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