The Shadow of Great Britain

159: Chapter 115 King’s Speech (Two in One)_2 159: Chapter 115 King’s Speech (Two in One)_2 But it’s because, before we donned these tailcoats, we were damned well just ordinary civilians, no different from the public marching today!

The relationship between the public and the police was already established in the “Statute of Winchester” of 1285, where sheriffs were selected from the public, with duty rotated among upstanding, well-behaved citizens within the parish—a tradition that continues to this day!

It is precisely for this reason that I see so many strong, kind, and upright young men standing here!

Today, we are to suppress a protest march initiated by the worker community.

I do not shy away from discussing the purpose of our action and can empathize with the reluctance that many of you may feel inside.

I know you have doubts about today’s actions, but I must reiterate the efforts the government is making to improve the living conditions of workers.

In 1802, our direct superior, Sir Robert Peel’s father, Sir Robert Peel, brought an issue before Parliament, the “Health and Morals of Apprentices Act,” the first factory law in Britain’s history, as well as in world history, dedicated to protecting workers’ rights!

This law stipulated that apprentices could not work more than 12 hours a day, improved sanitation and ventilation in factories, and required that factories provide at least one type of educational instruction—reading, writing, or arithmetic—during business hours and working days for every apprentice.

In 1815, Sir Robert Peel proposed an amendment, extending the regulated scope of factories to cotton, wool, and flax industries exploiting child labor, strictly regulating that child laborers under 18 could not work more than ten and a half hours per day, commanding factory owners to provide one and a half hours of education in reading, writing, and arithmetic daily for child laborers in their first four years at the factory.

And in 1819, he further prohibited textile factories from employing children under nine years of age, set the daily working hours for all factory workers under sixteen to no more than twelve hours, and required factories to allocate half an hour for breakfast and one hour for dinner.

Yes, you may argue that these laws didn’t truly work, as they lacked proper supervision, which led to them not being forcefully implemented.

Correct!

That’s precisely the reason workers are protesting on the streets.

I don’t intend to defend the government; I just want everyone to understand that Britain’s Cabinet is still functioning normally, continuously revising laws to bring forth innovations.

Because everyone understands that we at Scotland Yard are not allowed political stances; our sole purpose is to create an environment where society can communicate effectively, allowing workers to voice their opinions without breaking our lines of defense and causing the deployment of military and police forces!

Sending workers back is not to destroy freedom, nor is it to guard the soulless statue behind me, for everyone understands that this Triumphal Arch has another nickname—it’s called ‘Constitutional Arch’!

The very intention behind establishing Scotland Yard, our arduous daily patrols, long working hours, all aim to maintain the constitutional tradition and social order transmitted from the bloodless ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688!

If the situation continues to escalate, we may witness one bloodshed event after another, and we will take responsibility to prevent a repeat of history!

We will not allow a repeat of the next Peterloo Massacre, Saint George Field tragedy, Gordon Riots, or the damn Catholic Queen’s riots!

Our mission, now, as it was in the past, and will continue to be in the future, is to protect the public’s property and lives!

Many members of the public, and even many of our own, think that Scotland Yard is just a year-old organization, our law enforcement untraceable, our style brutal and ruthless!

They think that we are merely a violent machine existing to deal with the public, squeeze small merchants, workers, prostitutes, and a group of poor people struggling to survive!

They call us ‘Blue Devils’, ‘Lobster Claws’, ‘Peel’s Henchmen’, ‘Britain’s French Gendarmes’, ‘Government’s Murderous Imperial Guard’!

Most headlines about us Scotland Yard officers in the news carry terms like ‘brutal’, ‘authoritarian’, ‘ferocious’, ‘riotous’!

But today, right here, we are going to clarify to the public and the whole of Great Britain society, they are wrong, terribly wrong!!!

With another thunderclap, as lightning streaked across the sky, rain trickled down the chins of more than three hundred officers; the sky remained gloomy, but at least there was some light in their eyes.

They stood in fifteen straight lines with an aisle left in the middle, where Officer Tony was distributing the seemingly frail shields to them in sequence.

The shields were heavy, weighing down their shoulders, but with the shield in hand, the weight in their hearts felt lighter.

Several Scotland Yard inspectors watched the gradually approaching crowd of protesters.

Perhaps the lightning ignited a long-suppressed passion in their hearts, or maybe they saw the barriers arranged in front of them as a provocation.

In the crowd, which had lost its sensibility, there were now incidents of smashing shop windows beside the street and assaulting nearby police officers.