[user104658]

To be clear, I have no issue with people being searched if there is a REASON to suspect they're carrying a concealed weapon... Like a visible handle, a bulge in the clothing, pulling clothing down when they see the police, or a report that someone is carrying, etc. - all of those I would say are directly comparable to being pulled over by traffic police.

What I would never be OK with is "random" searches where people could literally be walking to the shops minding their own business and be stopped. It's also VERY unlikely that there wouldn't be an element of racial / socioeconomic profiling going on there. They're not going to stop a guy in a £1000 suit and ask to look through his briefcase, are they. So it's not really "random" at all... If you're stopped, it's someone saying "sorry but you look like a potential criminal to me" - and that's the sort of thing that makes people feel outcast, and makes them more likely to seek belonging outside of "normal society". For example, in a gang.