Posts Tagged ‘honourable’
The Labour Leadership
I suppose I should get my six ha’porth in, if that’s the correct expression, before the result is announced.
The very entertaining More 4 programme, Miliband Of Brothers, finally corrected my spelling last night. There may be two brothers but there’s only one “l”. I’ve been getting it wrong all the way through this thoroughly underwhelming campaign. At least it will be all over this afternoon. Then we’ll be treated to the appalling spectre of Gordon Brown making a farewell speech. Farewell and good riddance I say. The worst British prime minister in my lifetime. No doubt about that.
David Miliband is the obvious choice. He has the gravitas that you would expect from an ex-foreign secretary but I fear that he will be yesterday’s man by the time of the next election.
Ed Miliband has most of the qualities that his brother offers but with a spark of individuality that I think would serve his party well. If I was a a Labour supporter, wanting to see the party succeed, Ed would be my choice.
Andy Burnham can be very proud of the campaign he has run. He is coherent, honourable, very telegenic and, I should think, every Labour mum’s toyboy fantasy. He hasn’t got a hope in hell.
Ed Balls? Now as a Tory he gets my vote. What a total plonker! He would be disastrous for the Labour Party but it would make wonderful entertainment for the rest of us. I can dream!
I’m very fond of Diane Abbott. Along with all my fellow political junkies I love the Michael & Diane sofa partnership on “This Week”. They’re the real stars of the show, forget the leering old lothario in the corner. Trouble is, Diane isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. In fact she’s probably the bluntest in the entire kitchen so I’ll be looking forward to seeing her back on the sofa with Michael next Thursday.
Moat’s Last Moments. Are All Our Policemen Wonderful?
On Friday night they had Raoul Moat cornered at last. It was the culmination of something more akin to a military invasion than a reasonable response to just one deranged nutter. Northumbria Police had already made fools of themselves but we were all biting our lips, not yet protesting, hoping against hope that there would be no further casualties.
The first photographs from the stand-off were released and they clearly showed police pointing tasers. On BBC News the ex-police firearms expert was interviewed and asked why a taser couldn’t be used to disable Moat. He answered quite unequivocally that using a taser when a man has a gun pointed at his head was more than likely to result in him firing the weapon involuntarily.
First thing on Saturday morning and it was no surprise to learn that Moat was dead. What was utterly shocking was to learn that two tasers had been fired and the recording broadcast by the BBC revealed the shouting before the sound of the shotgun blast. The unavoidable conclusion is that exactly what the firearms expert had predicted was what happened.
I don’t have any sympathy for Moat. As far as I’m concerned a good case could have been made for him being shot on sight but I am very, very unhappy with the way the police handled the affair.
It may be that the denouement itself was handled properly. We will never know what really happened however many inquiries we have. What I am certain of is that overall the police should have done much better. Those far, far better qualified to judge than me have already said as much. I speak only as a concerned citizen.
I really worry about our police service. While I believe there are many brave, honourable coppers, some of whom are highly skilled, there are too many worrying indications that our police service is not up to the job.
There’s thuggery and the rank-closing covering-up and justification of it. There’s the appalling canteen culture which is at the root of all the institutionalised racism, thuggery and freemasonry. There’s the amateurish approach of senior officers who seem barely competent at times. There is inevitably some corruption but also a long-running deception that the decision to prosecute is at arms length. The police decide who to investigate in the first place. The CPS and the police eat in the same canteen
Look at the brutality of the police, the TSG in particular, at the Gaza and G20 protests and how they’ve got away with it. Look at the Inspector Gadget police website for an insight into the disgusting attitude of many officers. Look at the management of situations like the Cumbrian shootings and the Raoul Moat affair and the use of ludicrous, self-evidently bad ideas like the “kettling” at the Gaza and G20 protests. Look at the income generation from speed cameras promoted by some chief constables. Look at the absurd, intrusive, wildly excessive use of CCTV. Look at the ridiculous administration routines that many chief constables have imposed. Look at the insistence on retaining the DNA of innocent people.
The police are now very well paid. A starting police officer gets about twice as much as a starting soldier. They have wonderful pension arrangements. They’re also excused, let off and get away with behaviour that should never be allowed. Look at the thug, Sergeant Delroy Smellie , who repeatedly beat Nicola Fisher at the G20 protest and got away with it, or the officer who assaulted Ian Tomlinson, who later died, and who has still not been charged over a year later.
All the brave, honourable coppers are let down by those bad apples which myopic “support” of the police allows to rot and infect the rest.
The British police service needs a shake up. It is complacent and inefficient. Excellent work is done in anti-terrorism and organised crime but the truth is not all our policemen are wonderful. We need to face up to that truth and make some changes. Perhaps locally elected police chiefs are a way forward.
Smellie Not Guilty Verdict Stinks
No! No! No! I do not believe it! This has to be one of the greatest travesties of justice ever inflicted on the British people. Sergeant Delroy Smellie who beat Nicola Fisher with the back of his hand and his baton at the G20 protest has been acquitted of assault. This is an outrage, a bad and sad day for Britain. The man is a bully, a brute and a liar. He is a violent criminal who should go to jail for at least two years.
We all saw it, in full colour on our television screens. The man is an unmitigated thug. There can be no doubt in the mind of any reasonable person. The video evidence is entirely conclusive. The excuses put forward in his defence are manifest nonsense. District Judge Daphne Wickham who made this disgraceful decision is either corrupt or dumb. Her ruling flies in the face of common sense, reason and fairness. Her comments as detailed here are absurd. We should not stand for this. There should be protest on the streets, questions in the House and an immediate appeal against the verdict.
So, on the same day that guilty verdicts were delivered in the first trial without a jury for 350 years, we see the true colours of our increasingly cowardly and politically controlled judicial system. British justice is a laughing stock. It has no value any more, at all.
All the decent and honourable police officers out there must realise that this decision damages them beyond repair. Who will stand up for justice now? Who can we trust?
Disgraceful Betrayal Of Gurkha Heroes
What shambolic, cowardly, civil servant-jobsworth, treacherous nonsense has come out of the Home Office today?
See here for the full story.
The disgusting conduct of Jacqui Smith’s department shames Britain and everyone of us who enjoys freedom won at the cost of Gurkha lives. While she fritters away her expenses and her downtrodden, frustrated husband amuses himself with porn (who can blame him?), these brave, honourable men who have already won their case in the High Court have been knocked back again after months of unnecessary delay.
Not only is the decision itself a disgrace but the way it has been handled is an example of the very worst of Britain. What are these fools in government up to? They really have lost touch with the people and with reality. Gordon’s YouTube cock-up on expenses – can you think of a more stupid idea? A budget based on fantasy, delusion and deceit. Crass stupidity is too generous a description. Gordon, Jacqui, Alistair, you are a laughing stock! You have demonstrated your incompetence and lack of integrity again and again and again. Please just go!