Complaining about somebody passing close is reasonable whatever the reason or the provocation for the close pass – as the cyclist reasonably pointed out, plod didn’t have to overtake him, and he was doing 20 in a 20 limit. As for the rest – that’s according to plod who’s word you’re presumably taking as gospel, because there looked nothing at all wrong with his road positioning. If such road positioning makes it hard for other vehicles to pass or “obstructs” them, then tough – he’s just as much* right to be on the roads as anybody else, and whilst he’s there he has the right to ride in such a way as to maximise his safety even if that slightly inconveniences others (though as already pointed out, this is London, so inconvenience is mainly making them hit the next queue a little later).
NONE of that makes the cyclist a dick – on the contrary it makes him a sensible and safe cyclist.
Both started off Ok duirng their discussion but he sounded like a kid at the end when the Police Officer was just giving him some sound advice.
Well there’s the problem right there – the plod was wrong, it wasn’t sound advice. As DezB points out, how do you expect him to sound when telling a copper he’s wrong?
* arguably more – he’s there by right