A Catholic convert of unfashionable ideas then and now - a few quotes from his fascinating
Wikipage
"Anderton praised his officers, and warned the British public during the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union of the threat of left-wing subversion, stating in an October 1979 edition of the BBC's
Question Time programme that he believed in the 1980s the primary role of the police would not be crime prevention but quelling attempts to overthrow democracy and subvert the authority of the State.
When challenged by left wing Labour councillors and community activists on what they believed was his heavy-handed approach as chief constable, Anderton directly confronted his opponents and accused them of subversion, undermining police morale and threatening British democracy. He also denounced some defence lawyers as belonging to a "Society for the Prevention of the Conviction of the Guilty", attacked the "Race Relations Industry" for creating tension between ethnic minority groups and the wider population and detected a threat by left-wing extremists operating in the trade union movement and in society in general. He called for the introduction of National ID cards, and the creation of a national police force – thereby abolishing local police authorities – especially in the case of monitoring British football hooliganism.
We have two choices in the police force - either we stay where we are and die or we ignominiously cut and run. As long as it is in my power, I have no intention of leaving my officers unprotected...I shall never abandon the citizens of Greater Manchester to the mercy of rioters, rapists, looters and criminals."