Kids, if- like me- you have to be stopped and searched under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, try not to have a portfolio of cartoons on you. And if you must, try not to open said portfolio to a page containing something like, oh I don't know, this:



Saves a lot of embarrassment.

The incident happened in Gilmour Street train station in Paisley this afternoon, now red hot with poh-lees since the discovery that "The Doctors of Death!!!" work(ed) at the the RAH. Give the cop his due, he took it in good humour saying "We live in interesting times, don't we, sir?" My name, d.o.b., address and occupation ('cartoonist' rather than 'seditionist') where taken. I was also give a leaflet explaining why such a thing should happen, as is my entitlement, apparently.

Still not sure why I was stopped. He (the cop who looked at my stuff) told me it was random and I wasn't being singled out, yet an item on Reporting Scotland with a senior officer this evening made specific mention of the fact that 'random' doesn't come into their thinking on these- there's always a reason, albeit often no more than an issued profile.

The whole thing was cordial enough, and nothing like the genuine police harrassment I encountered (briefly, before running away like a girl) during the infamous "Show Us Your Tits, Mrs Chief-of-Police!!!" Carriage House Raid of 1996. But that's another story.

NB- This cartoon was done back in 2003, in response to events other than those of the past few days.