Smellie verdict

I have just read of the ‘not guilty’ verdict after a Metropolitan police sergeant was seen twice striking a woman demonstrator, once with the back of his gloved hand and again with a steel baton. This is the BBC’s report including the video clip: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8597217.stm

Sitting without a jury after a four-day hearing with additional photographs to look at the judge was satisfied that the sergeant had acted in self defence. She was satisfied on a point of law so that is that.

I don’t have a great deal of sympathy with the way some protesters behave and less so when they sell their stories to the press after hiring media consultants but I find some aspects of this case puzzling based on the video footage, particularly the suggestion that the sergeant had ‘only’ 7 seconds to react having been approached from the side.

Count seven seconds. Anyone who has served in the Forces will know that is a long time to get your head blown off while under attack, especially when the attacker is holding a camera and a drink carton pointing away from you in a threatening manner. Also “he had feared for his safety after becoming isolated from colleagues” even though he was able to retire behind their line afterwards so leaving his colleagues exposed to ‘the threat’.

Obviously we can’t believe what we appear to have seen so now that these actions are considered proportionate perhaps the force can be deployed to sort out the anti-social behaviour yobs that blight the lives of so many.

Scam Bags

Lately we have had two or three ‘Charity’ bags pushed through our letter box some weeks, the latest, from SHC Collections Ltd, is yet another from the sc*m of the earth.

According to their blurb “SHS Collection is a collection company who provide people in third world countries with clothes they can afford. This creates jobs for local people helping them become self sufficient not having to really [sic] on state handouts or charity schemes allowing them to take pride in their ability to provide for themselves and their families”.

Note my italics; these uncharitable people are selling freely donated clothes to poor people in the third world to profit themselves. They are just one of many organizations, mainly Eastern European apparently, taking advantage of British generosity to line their own pockets at the expense of the poor. Sadly most bags are not what they may appear and deprive charities of millions of pounds.

Before I put out a bag I always make sure it has come from a legitimate charity which will receive all the proceeds. In doing so I’ve found a useful site which is run by concerned volunteers and may be of use next time a bag drops through your letter box: http://www.charitybags.org.uk/index.htm

England Expects

According to The Telegraph it appeared that even in defeat England were the winners in the 2010 Six Nations climax in Paris on Saturday “taking the shine off France’s grand slam triumph”. Of course victory would have been complete if the referee had been on England’s side too - and let’s not forget the rain unfairly falling as it was only on the English to disadvantage them. Martin Johnson did his best to sort out the referee at half time but to no avail and his second bite after the final whistle was a late run.

With fifteen players on the pitch, equivalent to sixteen or even seventeen when ‘St.’ Jonny is on, plus three in the studio and, most important of all, the two commentators, Eddie (surely I'm English) Butler and Brian (only my opinion counts) Moore something went badly wrong. Could it be that the French didn’t understand that the English have a divine right to win?

During the 2010 tournament there have been many fine tributes to the voice of rugby, the late Bill McLaren. Did fair play die with him? Whilst naturally wanting our home team to win, a good game was more important. This was evident in Bill’s commentary. Saturday’s match was the complete opposite. It was ruined by one-sided, self opinionated drivel. It’s time for the two stooges to go.

A Question of Balance

Once again I allowed myself to become irritated by watching Question Time on Thursday. It was like a repeat of the Carol Vorderman show in drag with that offensive little pip-squeak David Starkey ranting from a similar Tory election script. Whilst I welcome a variety of opinions (within reason) such tirades become wearisome especially when formed from a narrow historical perspective. Some will recall his 2009 dismissal of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish nations as ‘feeble’. People in glass houses….

Much was made by most of the panel, and the Chairman of course, of the links between the Labour party and its trade union sponsor Unite as a result of its dispute with British Airways. That was fair game but what are we to make of the report that the Tories have forced the BBC to drop their intensive investigation into the affairs of Lord Ashcroft in the run up to the general election? Can the implication be that they have something to hide? So much for transparency and balance.

Of course funding isn’t a problem for the really high earners in our society. A joke was made on Sport Relief last night that if every footballer donated a week’s wages we could buy Africa. Not being a fan of round ball games I may be biased but I find the astronomically high wages of footballers offensive especially given the bad example many of them set with their aggressive behaviour and disgusting habit of spitting all over the pitch which is then echoed by yobs spitting on the street and spreading diseases. “Spitting spreads germs” is a sign we ancients recall seeing on public transport.

Just as, if not more, offensive is the reported £60m bonanza for the president of Barclays. From the Telegraph: “The package is based on a £384,000 salary, but through a combination of perks including share bonuses, Mr Diamond could earn more than 150 times that amount”. Ignoring the perks, can anyone deservedly earn a salary sixteen times that of the average wage even if he does want to build the biggest investment bank in the world - especially if it is on the back of the tax payer as Vince Cable aptly put it?

David Cameron’s plan to impose a tax on banks to repay the billions used to bail out financial institutions is most welcome as is Alistair Darling’s expected Government support for a global bank tax. Whoever wins the next election and by whatever means, someone needs to do something about these greedy bankers.

One Born Every Minute

Looking at this evening’s television schedules I see that Channel 4 is offering One Born Every Minute in which “a man struggles with the knowledge that his partner is pregnant with someone else’s child”. I don’t know why anyone would want to advertise that let alone enter themselves in the minor celebrity stakes but that’s life these days.

I have to confess that I haven’t watched any of these programmes but I know a midwife who has, driven as she was by professional curiosity. One glance was enough, appalled by the sight of a woman in the agonies of her labour being laughed at by the husband/partner and their teenage son. How entertaining.

Nowadays of course even the news is classified as entertainment. As Gorgeous (to some) George says when he has finished conducting his Six O’clock News slot, “Stay with us for all the day’s entertainment on the BBC’s News Channel”! Where will it end? I see that the Church of England is moving increasingly with the times telling people that they are “welcome to marry in the Church of England whatever your beliefs, whether or not you are christened and regardless of whether you go to church or not”: http://www.yourchurchwedding.org/youre-welcome/you-can-marry-in-a-church.aspx

That had me thinking that with a little more imagination the C of E could have pandered to people’s curiosity even further by providing facilities for the congregation to witness the consummation as well but of course that would usually have occurred much earlier in our more enlightened society.

Jubilee Debt Campaign: Vulture Culture Bill - Update

On Friday, 26^th February I blogged on the Vulture funds which profiteer by buying up the debts of heavily indebted poor countries cheaply then seek to recover the full amounts, thus depriving the very poorest people in the world of the basic necessities of life while they wallow in the riches of their ill-gotten gains.

After slowing the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill in its Second Reading it failed to pass its Third reading in Parliament when a single Conservative MP objected:

http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/ACTION%201:%20Who%20Killed%20the%20Vultures%20Bill%3F+5572.twl

Coming from a party in which it has been estimated that two-thirds of the shadow cabinet are millionaires this block looks more than insensitive. No understanding of poverty perhaps?

Sorry!

I’m sorry but yesterday’s excuses for failing to spot family abuse which had been allowed to continue under the noses of more than 100 officials for a quarter of a century sounded too hollow for me. What hope can there be for victims when they put their lives on the line to report abuse only to be ignored by the very people who are supposed to protect them?

This sorry state is symptomatic of a society which is obsessed with targets and box ticking. The easy option often gains rewards leaving weightier matters ignored with figures fiddled where necessary to obtain the required shine.

When things go drastically wrong there is the customary hand wringing statement of apology with the promise to learn lessons. They seldom do if recent experiences are anything to go on.

Postscript

With the ink still wet on the above post we read of yet another tragedy in the death of a long suffering disabled person whom it appears the police were unable to protect despite modern surveillance techniques. We defeated Hitler, we hope to defeat terrorism yet we appear unable to defeat the affliction that most are more likely to encounter. Something wrong somewhere?