Six of the Best 847

What are the polls telling us about a snap election? Public Policy and the Past has some answers.

Tom Arms examines the dangers of "anti-Elite" politics.

"Stop and search is deeply toxic, especially when people feel that they are being stopped because of their class or ethnicity. Our research suggests that it is a critical part of the social process whereby riots occur. Unless we stop seeing stop and search as a solution rather than part of the problem, they will happen again." The psychologist John Drury says current policies are storing up trouble.

"I often joke that out of all the councillors on Basildon Borough Council, I have been picked up the most by the police. This is not because I have committed any crime, but because when I was in mental health crisis, the police were the only people who cared." Andrew Gordon tells his story.

"Spat out of the far end of Absolute Beginners, my heart was beating fast. I could still see the colours, hear the beat, and the roar of the Vespa. I felt 20 again. I wanted to go out on to the streets and do something to make things better." Ray Newman reads Colin MacInnes’s 1959 novel.

Tim Worthington on the day Chris Morris's Blue Jam was taken off air.