The Shadow of Great Britain

Eld just wanted to retort a few more words, but he keenly sensed Arthur’s impatience in his words.

He bit into the stale bread and said, ”Your face doesn’t look too good, did a meeting get you this worked up? Could it be that the Municipal Committee gave you a hard time again?”

Arthur gave a faint ”hmm,” which could be considered as acquiescence.

Eld raised an eyebrow: ”No way? You’re part of the Police Commissioner Committee, they don’t even bother with superficial politeness?”

”What else? Even when facing the Home Secretary, don’t they show the same attitude?” Arthur glanced at him. ”Today, they merely brought out the charters granted to the Financial City by Henry II and John I, rather than starting from the Norman Conquest. That was already very polite of them.”

Eld took a sharp breath: ”Do they still have those old documents? Are they all originals?”

”I don’t know if they’re originals, but you know, the people of Financial City love reminding you that their ancestors had voting rights during the Plantagenet Dynasty, while your ancestors were still rolling in the mud.”

”Did they really say that?”

”More or less.” Arthur folded the newspaper. ”Though their wording was a bit more refined.”

”So is there no way to turn things around on this matter?”

”Not completely without hope.” Arthur said, ”The Municipal Committee told me that if the Home Office is willing to bear all their policing expenses, they’re willing to consider... mind you, just consider allowing Scotland Yard to send a few liaison officers over.”

”This... it’s simply outrageous. Aren’t they deliberately humiliating the Central Government?” Eld muttered, ”Does that mean abolishing the police autonomy of the Financial City is entirely out of the question?”

”Not entirely out of the question, just not very hopeful.” Arthur rubbed his temples and said, ”To abolish their police autonomy, we would need to draft a specific bill. But as you know, there are too many stakeholders from the Financial City in both Houses. Bankers, trade magnates, insurance companies, railway companies, and not to mention, the Treasury probably wouldn’t dare to offend so many holders of government bonds all at once. What’s worse, the support rates of the Whig Party and the Conservative Party are very close right now, so we can’t expect the party factions to risk offending the Financial City to make such a bold decision at this juncture.”

Hearing this, Eld sighed helplessly: ”Doesn’t sound very optimistic. At this rate, will the new Police Bill manage to pass before Parliament adjourns this year?”

Arthur was quite candid about this: ”I’m afraid it’s unlikely. I met with Lord Russell and Sir Peel just yesterday. Their opinion is that we’re moving too quickly. So instead of pushing for the new Police Bill, it’s better to break down the existing bill for re-examination and first aim to pass the Metropolitan Police Bill Amendment and the County Police Bill. According to them, if today’s negotiations with the Financial City Corporation don’t go well and Scotland Yard can’t merge with the Financial City Police Team, we’ll break out a Financial City Police Bill at least to standardize the organization’s structure using Scotland Yard as a model. These three bills will be passed across three sessions, which could reduce the resistance to reform.”

Though Arthur spoke as if in a difficult position, in fact, Peel and Russell’s proactive proposal to pass the reform measures through three bills already exceeded Arthur’s minimum expectations.

Because, even if the latter two bills don’t pass, just a single Metropolitan Police Bill Amendment would extend Scotland Yard’s jurisdiction from the current London Metropolitan Area, Middlesex, Surrey, Essex, and Kent to Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Which means in the future, Scotland Yard’s officers would have the legitimate right to exercise law enforcement in the surrounding counties of London without needing special approval from local municipal committees.

Moreover, in the amendment proposed by Peel, not only are Arthur’s claims over London traffic enforcement powers fully retained, it even clearly grants the London police jurisdiction over ships arriving at London Port and passing through the Thames River, allowing Scotland Yard to board ships for smuggling inspections and detain excess gunpowder and firearms.

Additionally, many gray areas of Scotland Yard’s law enforcement were formally clarified in the amendment, giving officers the power to impose administrative detention and fines directly on those disturbing others in public places without having to go through the Magistrates’ Court.

If the subsequent County Police Bill also passes smoothly, then in the future, except for autonomous city police stations, each county will establish its own modern county police force based on its circumstances. The Central Government will subsidize at least 25% of these police forces’ funding, with the remainder to be covered by a newly levied ”police tax.”

This means the Police Commissioner Committee will experience unprecedented power expansion, and the London Central Government’s control over local security forces will reach an unprecedented new height.

And Sir Arthur Hastings, the de facto head of the Police Commissioner Committee, his status and power in the Home Office will naturally rise as well. Although nominally, he is still ranked below the Home Office’s Permanent Under-Secretary Samuel Phillips, in actual operations, especially regarding public security management, riot suppression, and even the maintenance of public order along water and roads, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for any civil servant to truly bypass Arthur.