Kettling has already been unsuccessfully challenged in the courts on the grounds that it constitutes false imprisonment and that it contravenes freedom of movement.

BBC: Police 'kettle' tactic feels the heat

Firefighters from the Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham and Darlington, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear services have sent crews to 28, 241 false alarms in two years, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

BBC: False 999 calls cost fire crews millions

The view that freedom might increase inequality but would promote more social mobility has turned out to be false, says David Laws, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on work and pensions.

ECONOMIST: Income inequality