And the band plays on

as the good people suffer. Kim takes note of changes in police guidelines, and 'changes' in the law that- supposedly- give homeowners and other honest citizens more leeway in protecting themselves and others without having to fear arrest.

The guidelines changes are fairly bloody awful:
Guidelines ordering police to respond to emergency calls within three hours and to attend less urgent incidents such as burglaries within three days have been drawn up by the Home Office.

The astonishing proposals were designed as 'national standards for local policing' in England and Wales.

They laid down a three-hour target for officers to reach an incident which 'requires policing intervention'.
Three effing hours. On emergency calls. That this is supposed to be an improvement on things tells you just how bad things have gotten. On the 'protection' for homeowners, take a look at the first paragraph:
Homeowners and 'have-a go-heroes' will be handed more legal protection to defend themselves against burglars and muggers without the fear of prosecution, the Government claimed last night.
Which sounds good. Until you get to:
Opposition leaders said it offered nothing new and was merely the Government's latest attempt to woo core Tory voters in Middle England.

They pointed out that even the right, in certain circumstances, to shoot dead a burglar already exists in current law.
Nick Herbert, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said: 'This is a typical Labour con – it will give no greater protection to householders confronted by burglars because it’s nothing more than a re-statement of the existing case law.'

He said key points were simply copied word-for-word from case law on self-defence and reasonable force. Mr Straw first came under fire for ransacking existing laws when he announced greater protection for 'have-a-go heroes' at Labour's annual party conference last September.
Which, if you have ever followed the news from (fg)Britain means 'Act in defense of yourself or others, and you'll likely go to jail. You WILL go to jail if you actually lay hands on the bad guy or use a weapon.'

Let's see, more freedom to act in self-defense without fear of arrest? Hang on...(unbuckle)hmmm, (buckle) nope, no monkeys flying out of my butt.