Credit where it’s due. A video in the news this week shows something many thought had almost disappeared from public life: a police officer calmly defending free speech. The video shows a female Metropolitan Police officer standing alone in Whitechapel, surrounded by a crowd of angry Muslim men, calmly defending the right of a Christian street preacher to preach. In the midst of complaints and pressure, she made it plain that in this country people are free to speak — and that those who dislike what they hear are free to walk away.
This should not be remarkable. Yet in recent years, Christians have too often found themselves questioned, warned, or even detained simply for expressing biblical truths in public. That is why this small incident feels so significant. It reminds us that common sense has not completely drained away from British police officers.
