David Cameron's approach is unnecessarily moralistic in the extreme and his condemnatory rhetoric begs me to pose the question 'Is this the worst Prime Minster ever?'
I am dismayed that he has created a concoction of revenge, repression and stigmatisation as a response to the riots - and some of his 'tough' policy proposals are either wholly impractical, simply wouldn't be legally permissible or would clearly just make matters worse. He just seems to be spouting the first rightwing saloon-bar invective that comes into his head. I do not see any signs of dependable leadership let alone charismatic statesmanship with David Cameron and it is unsettling that the Home Secretary Theresa May, and others, sadly simply go along with the complete madness of reducing police numbers which in this current climate only confirms that view.
It’s barely over a year with this coalition government and the majority of the cuts have not taken place and with the recent large hike in unemployment this week; reducing police numbers begins to look like total madness.
David Cameron’s focus therefore on the evils of 'gangs', while addressing the subject of riots leaves him open to the charge that he was a member of the Bullingdon Club gang when he, Boris Johnson, George Osborne and others would habitually trash restaurants and country pubs in the Oxfordshire countryside would just chuck a load of money down as they were leaving to pay for the damage, because they could afford it. Let us not forget the drugs issue which Cameron never resolved and never gets mentioned any more! However he is not the right person to lecture and moralise about the drugs and gangs culture.
With the dreary and bleak economic situation apparently set to continue indefinitely, it's hard to see a path to survival, let alone success for David Cameron.
Another year or two of this chaos and incompetence and the rolling stone of the News International phone hacking yet to reach is climax will surely damage the Prime Minster even more. It’s like with the Bullingdon Club gang he chose the wrong set of friends.
We know Cameron loves foxhunting and delights in shooting helpless birds and deer for 'sport' and would doubtless love to be able to join his fellow hyper-privileged fellow gang members in paying thousands to be allowed to blast grouse to bits from the 'Glorious Twelfth' on Scottish moors.
Just how can the Liberal Democrats remain supporting his leadership when George Osborne states that the higher income tax rates may need to be removed as they are not collecting sufficient revenue? This is down to the many and varied tax avoidance schemes in place. The rich have become like the Greeks, never paying there fair share of taxes. This is another centre piece of Liberal Democrat policy that is being thrown out of the Coalition.
The country did not vote for this style of Coalition government and the austerity measures they are engaged in; there is no mandate for this course of action. We are not like Greece or Ireland and I don't think Britain is broken or sick either. I think it's fraying at the edges in certain areas, and I think anti-social behaviour has become far more common and tolerated more. It's not broken but a portion of society seems to have lost the right to live their lives free from harassment and abuse. Another portion seems to have no stake or say in our society and hence is marginalised and drops under the Radar of both the enforcement and welfare agencies.
Britain is not broken, not yet at any rate and we need to build for the future and that means spending money, and to quote our very own David Cameron, “We can’t go on like this!” No David we can’t go on like this and this applies to you!
Thursday 18 August 2011
Sunday 14 August 2011
It's a riot
Who remembers Dixon of Dock Green - Fair and quality policing without fear or favour?
With the upsurge of violence in our towns and cities where looting is being widely reported, perhaps we need to stand back and review where we are regarding this situation. It is so easy to waffle on about the criminality of the individuals involved in the looting, theft and the other criminal activities, but why are they doing it and how can it be stopped.
The police and in particular the Metropolitan police have not had good press lately with the bribery and phone hacking sandal and they are now leaderless at present.
The handling of the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham may have been the trigger but they are lots of other reasons for this build up of pressure.
Its high time the police and in particular the Chief Constables disengaged with the higher echelons of the establishment and re-engage there police force with the general public at large.
The banking crisis and the subsequent demonstrations during the G20 meeting which resulted in the death of Ian Tomlinson, clubbed by the Metropolitan police on his way home just serves to indicate how disconnected some police are from the community they purport to serve!
It was the police that warned during the start of the austerity measures that cutting the police force budget when youth unemployment was rising was a dangerous move where they may not have sufficient numbers or budget to maintain the rule of law.
This year alone we have seen the student demonstrations against the tuition fee rises and the loss of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) soon followed by the TUC march last March which brought teachers, court workers, NHS and Social Services workers together for a united stand against the cuts. During these protests they have been other pressure groups in action. The direct action group UK-Uncut and the Internet based 38 Degrees and again the Metropolitan police could be accused of being heavy handed in the way they have dealt with the UK-Uncut group by detaining them for some 36 hours for a peaceful sit-in.
Of course the government does not help by promoting one of the business leaders targeted for tax avoidance by the UK-Uncut group to a government advisor! This again indicates that the police have disengaged with the public and are happy to fly there standard with the ‘big money’.
Youth unemployment is very high and jobs in short supply, students are forced to pay much more and many new graduates have a degree and a large debit with at best a low paid unskilled job or none at all. The bankers still get there bonuses and the rich just get richer with many more people slipping into poverty. Something has to change, we only need to look at the Middle East and the Arab Spring uprising to see the sea of change that people demand when things are corrupt and unfair.
Its high time the police and in particular the Chief Constables disengaged with the higher echelons of the establishment and re-engage there police force with the general public at large. The shooting of Mark Duggan, justified or otherwise and the apparent contempt for his family are another systemic failure of the police.
Now is the time that people are the priority rather than business and property and the police now fully engage with the society and community they are suppose to serve.
However on the political front just how many people voted for this Coalition government and the austerity measures they are engaged in. The role of News International may have had an undesirable effect on the election result, but we will never know. If politicians ignore the voters and decide to go down a different path without a clear mandate then how are people supposed to relay there disapproval and anger at this situation. And young people when angry let it be known and it would be unproductive to demonise them even more; they need to be engaged in society and be stakeholders in our future.
With the upsurge of violence in our towns and cities where looting is being widely reported, perhaps we need to stand back and review where we are regarding this situation. It is so easy to waffle on about the criminality of the individuals involved in the looting, theft and the other criminal activities, but why are they doing it and how can it be stopped.
The police and in particular the Metropolitan police have not had good press lately with the bribery and phone hacking sandal and they are now leaderless at present.
The handling of the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham may have been the trigger but they are lots of other reasons for this build up of pressure.
Its high time the police and in particular the Chief Constables disengaged with the higher echelons of the establishment and re-engage there police force with the general public at large.
The banking crisis and the subsequent demonstrations during the G20 meeting which resulted in the death of Ian Tomlinson, clubbed by the Metropolitan police on his way home just serves to indicate how disconnected some police are from the community they purport to serve!
It was the police that warned during the start of the austerity measures that cutting the police force budget when youth unemployment was rising was a dangerous move where they may not have sufficient numbers or budget to maintain the rule of law.
This year alone we have seen the student demonstrations against the tuition fee rises and the loss of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) soon followed by the TUC march last March which brought teachers, court workers, NHS and Social Services workers together for a united stand against the cuts. During these protests they have been other pressure groups in action. The direct action group UK-Uncut and the Internet based 38 Degrees and again the Metropolitan police could be accused of being heavy handed in the way they have dealt with the UK-Uncut group by detaining them for some 36 hours for a peaceful sit-in.
Of course the government does not help by promoting one of the business leaders targeted for tax avoidance by the UK-Uncut group to a government advisor! This again indicates that the police have disengaged with the public and are happy to fly there standard with the ‘big money’.
Youth unemployment is very high and jobs in short supply, students are forced to pay much more and many new graduates have a degree and a large debit with at best a low paid unskilled job or none at all. The bankers still get there bonuses and the rich just get richer with many more people slipping into poverty. Something has to change, we only need to look at the Middle East and the Arab Spring uprising to see the sea of change that people demand when things are corrupt and unfair.
Its high time the police and in particular the Chief Constables disengaged with the higher echelons of the establishment and re-engage there police force with the general public at large. The shooting of Mark Duggan, justified or otherwise and the apparent contempt for his family are another systemic failure of the police.
Now is the time that people are the priority rather than business and property and the police now fully engage with the society and community they are suppose to serve.
However on the political front just how many people voted for this Coalition government and the austerity measures they are engaged in. The role of News International may have had an undesirable effect on the election result, but we will never know. If politicians ignore the voters and decide to go down a different path without a clear mandate then how are people supposed to relay there disapproval and anger at this situation. And young people when angry let it be known and it would be unproductive to demonise them even more; they need to be engaged in society and be stakeholders in our future.
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