I WAS horrified to learn that the police in Moss Side, Manchester, are to carry guns.

I have heard rumours for a long time that they were unofficially patrolling with arms, but this is something completely different. The day the police start to carry firearms is a sad day indeed.

But what concerns me most is not the fact that that day has come, but that it has arrived without even a feint murmur of a drum role or the sound of a horn. An issue of such gravity as this should be blasted from the houses, front page news in all the nationals, and debated over and over, like the fox hunting issue.

Former Moss Side resident, relocated to Preston.

One of the main differences between Britain and America is feel safe factor, which I know has been almost completely eroded over recent years.

But have we gone so far down that road that we've reached the point where arming police doesn't even warrant political debate.