The same thing happened here in the 1980s, when the Thatcher government sent the Met up north to deal with the miners. The Met followed orders to the hilt particular during the Battle of Orgreave.
"Twenty-five years on, one senior South Yorkshire officer told me that, at the height of the strike, he was on the point of demanding that visiting officers from the Metropolitan police be sent home. They had arrived, he said, proclaiming that they were "up for it" and demonstrated the meaning of that expression by intentionally antagonising the pickets. When their coaches passed through lines of striking miners they waved five pound notes – the reward for the overtime that policing the strike required, and an irresistible provocation to miners whose families were barely able to buy groceries. They boasted in public houses about what a joy it was to "sort out the Commies" and, flaunting their swollen pay packets, made overtures – often distressingly successful – to local girls.
Traditionally Yorkshire miners enjoyed a friendly relationship with the local police. Between the wars, the Guards found the county a fruitful recruitment area, as young men trod the well-worn path from colliery, via five years with the colours, to constabulary. And in mining areas, old loyalties endure. My maternal grandfather moved straight from pit to police in Derbyshire. Most miners had a distant relative in the force. During the 1984 dispute, there was at least one inspector who would meet (and greet) his brother on the picket line".
The UK will have to hold on to the US's apron strings even more if the EU decide to have its own army.
