M6 Toll Closed by armed police

I think people are being unfairly harsh on the member of the public that reported this. For anyone who uses the Tube in London, you'll see posters everywhere asking you to report anything suspicious. For all this guy knew, something suspicious and untoward was going on which could have endangered the lives of the people on the bus.

I'm sure they didn't ask for the armed police etc to be sent, it was merely escalation based upon what was reported to them.

Let's also not forget that the current threat level in the UK is at "substantial" (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/counter-terrorism/current-threat-level/). Things like this are taken very seriously with a heavy handed approach for good reason. If another 7/7 attack happened then both the police and secret services would be criticised massively.
 
Been following this on and off as i have a day at home today, what a predictable outcome :rolleyes:

I refer back to my original post, we have a wonderful motorway network in this country, but the way they are managed seemingly with no urgency whatsoever grinds it to a halt at massive expense on an almost daily basis.

Jez said:
This sort of police over exaggeration seems to me to be one of the major problems with a lot of the motorway congestion and delays that i see on an almost daily basis. Obviously an operation on this scale is unusual, but the comment above about the road being closed due to a tyre in lane 1 unfortunately strikes true with me. I get absolutely no sense of urgency at all when watching the police and highways agency operate. They have no sense of urgency at all. It’s an absolute farce a lot of the time when you look at the sheer scale of delays (and therefore cost) that they can cause for the sake of a single persons very slight safety benefit of being shielded by a highways agency 4x4 blocking a lane.
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Hmm. I can see how that could look highly suspicious to someone not familiar with ecigs actually to be fair. But... I still wouldn't call 999 as a first reaction lol.
 
estebanrey said:
What I don't get is e-cigs hardly produce any vapour unless you actually toot on them, so unless he was using it (in which he's just look like he was smoking a strange fag) I don't buy the 'smoke coming from bag' thing.
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Well I reckon if you was stealth vaping and dripping then he would look suspicious.

Perhaps he kept reaching in his bag, puffing on it and exhaling back into his bag. That and occasionally getting a bottle out and dripping liquid perhaps made another passenger (who is not aware of the different types of vapour equipment) panic and assume it was a gas attack.

I must be more careful stealth vaping in future!
 
Greebo said:
Well I reckon if you was stealth vaping and dripping then he would look suspicious.

Perhaps he kept reaching in his bag, puffing on it and exhaling back into his bag. That and occasionally getting a bottle out and dripping liquid perhaps made another passenger (who is not aware of the different types of vapour equipment) panic and assume it was a gas attack.

I must be more careful stealth vaping in future!
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You've actually described my bus trip up to Gatwick a couple of weeks ago, lucky it wasn't me :eek:

I'm very 'aware' of who's watching though and if I suspect even one person has 'seen' me I always make a point to show them what it is.

If the government just admitted that e-cig actually work unlike the 'official' NRT products and let the NHS recommend them, people might have a bit more knowledge about them.

The fact is, e-cigs are a kind of legal underground item because they won't promote them in fear of harming big pharma's products.
 
Since all of the passengers have now been moved to a different vehicle for forward travel, do you reckon the bloke involved just whipped it out and puffed away on the new coach? That would be awesome.
 
Jez said:
Been following this on and off as i have a day at home today, what a predictable outcome :rolleyes:

I refer back to my original post, we have a wonderful motorway network in this country, but the way they are managed seemingly with no urgency whatsoever grinds it to a halt at massive expense on an almost daily basis.
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The actual cause is irrelevant to the response police gave though. They would only have been acting on the information they were provided with.
 
I reckon whoever made the call in the first place will have eyes burning behind his/her skull by fellow passengers. I would be fuming if that happened, yet part of me wonder, what if this was real? Would I be angry because I was inconvenient?
 
Curio said:
Sad, isn't it? A nation that (until recently) prided itself on making it through The Blitz with a stiff upper-lip, and living through the constant IRA threat with minimal fuss, is now reduced to panicking at the first sign of a little smoke that could have been from anything.
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easier to rule a terrified nation. look at the USA. they are scared of their own shadows now.
 
TheVoice said:
The actual cause is irrelevant to the response police gave though. They would only have been acting on the information they were provided with.
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why would it take hours though?

stop bus. ask who saw what. point at smoker. question smoker.

10 mins maybe? not hours of road closures and cost to the general public.
 
estebanrey said:
What I don't get is e-cigs hardly produce any vapour unless you actually toot on them, so unless he was using it (in which he's just look like he was smoking a strange fag) I don't buy the 'smoke coming from bag' thing.
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It's also possible that he was one of these vapers who descends into the murky depths of "enthusiast" devices...

As the Vapors' Lounge thread will demonstrate, these look less like a cig/cigar and can look more like a cobbled-together tube or box of bits. Hell, some of them even have digital displays ["It could be a timer!!!"] :D
 
simisker said:
It's also possible that he was one of these vapers who descends into the murky depths of "enthusiast" devices...

As the Vapors' Lounge thread will demonstrate, these look less like a cig/cigar and can look more like a cobbled-together tube or box of bits. Hell, some of them even have digital displays ["It could be a timer!!!"] :D
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Speaking to the converted my friend....

estebanrey said:
Didn't know there was a vaper's thread here, nice.

Here's what's sitting on my office desk as I speak....

2rnzl83.jpg
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