Yes, that argument "the police want this, let's do it" irritated me very much as well. I am sure the police would be very happy (and underemployed) if we all sat at home with our arms crossed but that isn't a reason to do it.
And Mr Tony Blair's other arguments seemed to be "do it because I say so" or "if you don't do what I'll say you'll all be sorry (and I'll be glad) so there"

The Guardian leader was very gleeful about Tony's defeat, which is only to be expected after he tried so hard to pass a bad law using playground arguments.