Ambush Predator

Alan Johnson: I’m Right, Everyone Else Is Wrong

2009-11-25T17:24:00.001Z

Postman Pat is in CiF pontificating on why the ECHR is wrong, and NuLab’s authoritarian instincts are bang on the money:

Today, on DNA retention, the government must balance several factors. First, there's the scientific evidence, which is still sparse.

And will be ignored if you choose to do so for political purposes, as Professor Nutt will tell everyone who wants to listen…

The most recent research supports the case for the retention of DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted.

And it’s linked to in this article so we can all judge for oursel….

Oh, my mistake. It isn’t. We just have to take Postman Pat’s word for it.

. I reject the claim by the Human Genetics Commission yesterday that large numbers of people are being arrested simply to collect their DNA. There is no substantive evidence to suggest this is so.

Best you lay of the ‘substantive evidence’ line, Pat. We have all seen through that one…

No one can have their DNA taken unless arrested for a recordable offence.

And the list of recordable offences has grown massively under the auspices of….which political party, again?

As the Association of Chief Police Officers has said, arresting someone is a major step, never taken lightly.

Oh, really?

It is unlikely that Mark Dixie, the murderer of Sally Anne Bowman, would ever have been found had his DNA profile not been recorded following his involvement in a pub brawl, after which he had been released without charge.

You mean, you’ve no faith in the police to track people down without this overarching database? Better sack them all then, Pat…

Take also the case of Abdul Azad, arrested for violent disorder in Birmingham in February 2005. He had a DNA sample taken and was released without charge. In July 2005, a stranger rape occurred in Stafford, 25 miles away. DNA evidence was found to match Azad's. The senior officer said he would otherwise never have been caught.

Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Far easier just to tap a key and find the suspect rather than do all that tedious detecting…

It has also helped protect the innocent. Sean Hodgson, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering and raping Teresa de Simone in 1982, would probably not have been cleared without DNA analysis showing he was not the killer.

Err, what? How would having his DNA on a database prevent this?

Under proposals soon to be considered by parliament, the DNA profiles of all those convicted of crimes – irrespective of the offence – will continue to be held indefinitely.

The ECHR can go take a flying one, can they, Pat?

The bill will also give police the power to take samples from those convicted of serious violent and sexual offences in the past, before DNA was routinely taken…

So, it’s retroactive as well? Fantastic. How long before we are routinely tagged and numbered at birth like livestock?

It seems there is all-party consensus on these two measures.

Except in the next paragraph you state:

The Guardian has joined the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in arguing for the Scottish system of three years' retention…

Some ‘consensus’…

The Scottish model is said to be a success, but by whose standards, and by what evidence?

By the standards of the ECHR, which measured the English system against it, and found it wanting. That good enough for you?

This is a classic home secretary dilemma.

Pity we don’t have a classic home secretary then, isn’t it? Sadly, we are stuck with you.

For the time being, anyway…

It is not a clear-cut choice between liberty and security – between siding with the civil liberties lobby or the forces of law and order.

Yes. It is, actually.

The far less headline-friendly reality…

Ah, here we have it. NuLabour’s policy is driven by the tabloids.

… is the need to balance all these factors – protecting the public, but in a way that's proportionate to the threat.

You have as much idea about what is ‘propotionate’ as the cop in that linked story.

But ok, then. Let’s see all MPs and their families go first, eh?

I believe that the government's proposals do precisely that but I also welcome the debate as a necessary part of implementing such sensitive measures.

Typical NuLab. You welcome a debate, but you’ll ignore it.

We can’t get rid of this shower fast enough for me.

”…’not fit for work’…”

2009-11-25T12:40:00.000Z

Millions of school and college leavers are 'not fit for work', the boss of Marks & Spencer warned yesterday.

Chairman Sir Stuart Rose said too many didn't even have a basic grasp of the three Rs.

We’ve heard this all before, of course. In fact, we heard it from the Tesco chairman only a month or so ago…

A major poll by the charity of around 2,000 business leaders over 18 months found the education black hole was their second biggest headache after the recession.

I wonder how many of those 2,000 business leaders also figure on the ‘Supporters’ list of ‘Teach First’?

And the government’s response?

Deny, deny, deny…

Last night Schools Minister Iain Wright hit back at his claims, saying: 'Employers rightly have higher expectations of workers because there are fewer low-skill jobs in the economy - but it's unfair and wrong to make sweeping generalisations that distort the true picture.

'Our school leavers work hard for their qualifications and are better equipped for the world of work than they have ever been - with English and maths results at their highest ever levels and the consistency of those standards rigorously scrutinised by our independent exam regulator.'

‘We have always been at war with East Asia.’

And All Because The Burgled Housewife Loves ‘Milk Tray’…

2009-11-25T11:40:00.000Z

Shoplifters, vandals and burglars are being told by police to say sorry with a bunch of flowers to avoid prosecution.

Another undermining of the justice system to ‘save money’...

Offences including common assault, theft, burglary, criminal damage and vandalism which would ordinarily mean a jail sentence, fine or caution are instead being resolved by a gift to the victim such as bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates to make amends.

So, the police still get their DNA for the database (because they are presumably arrested?), and the courts don’t need to bother with all that sentencing stuff.

What’s not to like?

Police say the 'common-sense community resolution' to anti-social behaviour and low-level crime saves police time and could save forces and the criminal courts millions of pounds.

Except…we have a system of criminal justice in this country. It’s worked well for many, many years.

Why subvert it now, for the sake of money?

But critics have accused police of undermining the criminal justice system, saying crimes should be dealt with by magistrates rather than ad-hoc penalties devised by individual officers.

Quite…

There are also concerns that an offender can escape having a criminal record if they agree to apologise and repair any damage or refund what was stolen.

So, this throws the DNA database question into doubt, then, doesn’t it?

If they get their DNA taken on arrest, then they will be on a database despite having no conviction.

No-one will be surprised that this is the WMP again:

The officer leading the experiment, Chris Sims, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, said yesterday his officers were administering 'a moral clip round the ear' to offenders.

Err, no. That’s precisely not what you are doing...

What you are doing is driving a coach and horses through the British Justice system.

When ‘Emergency Care Proceedings’ Doesn’t Mean What One Might Assume It Means...

2009-11-25T10:10:00.001Z

A boy of two was allowed to remain in the care of a blind 82-year-old widow by the council involved in the tragedy of Baby P.

Social workers from Haringey said the child was 'thriving' with the frail pensioner, who had once fostered his mother.

Oh, Haringey again. Is anyone surprised?

But the widow's family accuse the North London council of ignoring a series of warnings that she was too old to cope.

They claim it failed to act even when the tiny, six-stone great-grandmother collapsed from exhaustion after caring for the child for almost two months.

In fact, it was the death of her.

She died this month after falling down stairs at her home, where she lived alone with the child.

Well done, Haringey!

You’ve obviously filled your quota of dead children and you think you’d better start reducing the population from the opposite end of the age range this time...

The council says it wanted to take the child away from the widow and instigated emergency care proceedings.

However, the child was under its supervision for 18 months before the case came to court and the family feel that Haringey is guilty of dragging its feet.

18 months is an ‘emergency’ in Haringey, is it?

Well, I suppose it is when you are just dealing with trifles like vulnerable children and the frail elderly.

But they certainly moved pretty damn sharpish when the story looked like leaking out and some SS might be in the frame for some harsh words from the press:

… when the Daily Mail contacted the under-fire council over the death of the pensioner, its officials sought an emergency court order to stop details of the case being made public.

Luckily, they lost.

And as the ‘Mail’ points out, this case highlights the extraordinary actions of Haringey in this case when compared to other decisions made by the SS elsewhere:

The tragic case is made all the more extraordinary by the plight of countless grandparents who have been told they are too old to foster their own grandchildren.

This year social workers decided to rehome two children with a gay couple after their mother's parents were judged 'too old' to care for them.

And in that case, ‘too old’ meant 49 and 56, even though there was a family link. What gives?

Haringey refused to confirm or deny whether Baby K was on its Child Protection Register - the 'at risk' list on which Baby P was placed eight months before his death.

Which either means he wasn’t (and should have been) or he was (and action moved at the usual glacial pace of Haringey SS).

Either way, it’s hard to see how they are going to escape censure for this one.

Well, until you realise that they always do. Or at least, escape the expected results of such censure in any other organisation.

Well, Sometimes The Spirit Just Moves You…

2009-11-25T09:15:00.001Z

A spiritualist 'ghost-buster' lost his job as a police law trainer because he got sexually aroused during a role play, a tribunal heard yesterday.

That must have been some role play!

A sergeant from Merseyside Police who witnessed the scene vowed never to use him again, and Cheshire Constabulary made the same decision because of his 'inappropriate behaviour'.

Sadly, it seems the incident was soon forgotten, as they later hired him as a specialist trainer!

The information only came to light in October 2008 after Mr Power secured a job as a specialist trainer and a co-ordinator with Greater Manchester Police.

He was fired three weeks later on October 24, with the force citing his 'current work in the psychic field' as a reason.

Which was a bit of an error, given the increasingly-surreal nature of the UK’s employment laws.

Yup, you guessed it – he’s suing them for wrongful dismissal:

Mr Power, of Birkenhead, Merseyside, denied the allegations.

He is seeking compensation for hurt feelings and wants redress after a judge ruled his spiritualism should be afforded the same protection as religion under equality laws.

Well, why not? If global warming belief is now afforded the same protection, I guess it’s only right the table-rappers get to fill their boots too…

CCTV – Keeping Us All Safe From…

2009-11-25T08:30:00.000Z

…pub band members who might have possibly had a gun, or at any rate a gun-shaped object, well, be fair, it was dark out and the resolution on those things isn’t great, and hey, if you pay peanuts you get…

A band who had just performed in a Staffordshire pub spent the night at a police station over allegations a firearm had been seen in their van.

You’d think that wouldn’t take a night to clear up, would you? How big was this van?

Band manager Kingsley Slater said they were eventually released but had been "totally shocked" by it all.

Only ‘shocked’? I’d be furious…

The men were later released and their cars were driven over to the police station so they could drive back and pick up their equipment.

"I feel a bit let down," Mr Kingsley said.

"It was a blunder."

Hmm, was it?

Or was it an attempt to harvest a bit more DNA for that database?

Staffordshire police said they had had a call from CCTV operators who saw two vehicles and people acting suspiciously in a car park in High Street, Chasetown.

They also believed they had seen a firearm in one of the vehicles.

Note the ‘believed’. If they’d believed they’d seen a nuclear bomb, would the Army have been called out?

Did no one think to check the recordings first, or at least immediately afterward?

"Armed officers were deployed and six men were arrested outside the Oak pub in Burntwood," a spokesman said.

"After further investigation and viewing of the CCTV footage, the six men were released without charge.

"No firearm was found."

Because no firearm was there, you dolt!

Insp Dave Challinor said the six men faced no further action but that police had responded "appropriately and proportionately."

‘No further action’..? Well, how bloody magnanimous of you!

You can’t take any ‘further action’ because they didn’t do anything wrong.

You could, however, take ‘further action’ against the minimum-pay drones monitoring the CCTV, to prevent six other innocent men having the living daylights frightened out of them and their DNA stored on the database the next time you decide you really haven’t the faintest clue what the words ‘appropriately and proportionally’ actually mean…

Is Gordon Aiming For The Loony Feminist Vote?

2009-11-25T08:08:00.000Z

How, exactly, do you square:

From 2011, lessons in gender equality and preventing violence in relationships will be included in the statutory personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum.

with:

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said violence against women and girls was "an obscenity".

So, violence against men and boys is perfectly fine..?

I’ve an idea – how about we elect a party who has a Prime Minister who can condemn violence no matter to whom it is applied?

Because The Kids Just Aren’t Getting Dumb Enough Quickly Enough For Some…

2009-11-24T09:15:00.001Z

Setting and streaming should be abolished in state schools amid fears weaker pupils are being left behind, ministers have been told.

Well, just fantastic…

All children should be taught in mixed-ability classes to boost standards and self-esteem among all students, according to a report.

You know, if you stopped a few people in the street and asked them what the problem with children was, I very much doubt ‘low self esteem’ would be high on the list.

Indeed, most of them have far too much (totally unwarranted) self esteem…

Researchers said that setting pupils was often done purely for the “benefit of teachers”.

You mean so they don’t have to teach three different ways in the same lesson? How surprising!

The study, by Teach First, which recruits top graduates as trainee teachers in tough inner-city schools, also called for a shake-up of admissions to stop the best comprehensives being filled with bright, middle-class children.

Because that would be terrible, wouldn’t it? Bright children in schools? Madness!
Don’t ask why. It just would…

It said schools should introduce a system of “fair banding” in which all children are given an entrance test and equal numbers of bright, average and poor-performing pupils are given places.

And presumably placed in the same classes. Otherwise, schools would simply band within themselves.

They do get something right though:

In a further conclusion, it called for the scrapping of league tables amid claims teachers are routinely forced to enter pupils for easier courses to boost their ranking.

Well, of course they do.

But the recommendations sparked anger among head teachers and educationalists who said it would be a recipe for “mediocrity” .

Mediocrity is what we’ve got now. What we’d get if we were insane enough to accept these recommendations is anyone’s guess…

Ralph Tabberer, the Government’s former director general of schools, said little time was spent protecting “scholarship, genuinely high quality study and its importance."

True enough. And if this bunch get their way, there will be even less time spent.

What did they base this study on, then?

In the latest study, Teach First collected views from 500 graduates who spent two years working in schools in deprived communities.

Ah. It’s a totally self-selecting sample, then. Only people who have already drunk the Teach First kool-aid are being consulted on this.

So, who are Teach First? Well, their website says they are:

…an independent charity launched in 2002…

And their mission statement says they are dedicated to:

… a powerful social change initiative aimed at tackling educational disadvantage in challenging schools around the UK…

So, where are they getting their money from?

Would you believe only half comes from other than governmental sources?

Approximately half of Teach First's annual budget is raised from private sources through one-off and sustainable grants from businesses, charitable foundations and individual giving.

The main culprits here are the Training and Development Agency and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Oddly, their website shows that their corporate supporters are precisely the sort of businesses you’d think would run a mile from socialist claptrap.

So, what gives?

Time Of The Month, Yasmin?

2009-11-24T08:20:00.002Z

She has a truly spectacular rant in the ‘Indy’:

Boorish, brutish sexism has broken out again. Yet again. And, as usual, here come lady cheerleaders, handmaidens to men who have never accepted that half of God's people are fully human and entitled to all that the world has to offer.

Calm down, dear, it’s only a EU appointment…

How these tongues burned and lashed out when Cathy Ashton got the top foreign policy job in the EU. She got it 'cos she is a flippin' woman. Obvious, innit?

Well, it certainly wasn’t down to her high profile, was it?

And as Obo reports, it really does appear to have been the case too...

Now how much of a token does she look?

A Sunday newspaper cartoonist calls Ashton "whatsherface?" Such wit.

It’s funny because it’s true. If it had been an unknown man, there’d be the same reaction.

Had you ever heard of this woman before, then?

Baroness Ashton and I are slightly acquainted, no more, if you need to know that.

Ah…

The world only feels right when women are removed from the public space. We know that is what the Taliban believes.

Yes, because wondering who the hell gave a complete unknown a top-level post in the EU and, more importantly, why, is tantamount to stoning women in the street for showing a bit of ankle. Apparently.

But there’s no stopping her, she’s really off on one now:

Was I the only person in the world to notice that when the US met China in Beijing, along the long table with Hu Jintao and Barack Obama were all men in dull suits?

I think you were probably the only person in the world who cared enough to watch in the first place…

Everyday I watch British TV (including the BBC which gets substantial licence fee money from those of us with the XX chromosome) and all intrepid travel programme presenters are white and male, most TV chefs and judges too, history, design and games show hosts and so on and on.

Perhaps you’re watching a bit too much TV then, Yasmin?

Jeremy Clarkson and Russell Brand and even coarser creatures cleverly debase women, including our women politicians. They are the "it" boys. They turn their chauvinism into gold.

They ‘pick on those women politicians’ because they are so bloody awful, Yasmin. And people tune in to see it because they are so bloody awful. It’s not simply because they are women.

The world's economy was brought down by careless, greedy men.

Only one sex is responsible for the problems? Only one sex, Yasmin? Are you serious?

Women, said authors of a report on the crisis by the Cranfield School of Management, were not more risk averse but more risk aware. Just what we need. Do we see any sign that that quality is being valued in the financial sector? Do let me know if there is. All I see is still wretchedly low representation of women in our top echelons and progress, compared with say the Scandinavian nations, snail slow.

Oh, give me strength…

The Pope invites anti-women Anglicans to join his properly male church, and they threaten to, encouraged by the now blonde Ann Widdecombe; the adorable Sir Alan Sugar arrives in the Lords, he with his admired retro views on foolish young women who want to work and have a family; a high-achieving scientist reveals she was the upmarket prostitute and blogger Belle De Jour (what does that mean? That you let rich strangers deep into your body and not factory workers? So you make more dough opening your legs? And that makes you more classy?).

And you make a hell of a lot of money opening your mouth without apparently engaging your brain. Who’s serving society’s needs best between you?

Now they are talking here and in the US of the paradox of "declining female happiness". The more powerful we get, the less happy we are. What's more, men are getting happier and women are getting gloomier.

Oh, cheer up love! Go buy yourself a new frock, or something…

The brilliant US columnist Maureen Dowd (Ed: sic, unbelievable as that reads…)deconstructs the findings and suggests that the feminist revolution may have benefited men more than women who have only taken on added burdens – the impossible balance between work and life, time poverty, pressures to be always young and beautiful. Then there is derision and subversion from reactionary men and women which makes the glittering prizes feel both heavy and pointless. Exhausting and debilitating it may be, but the fight must go on.

How selfless and noble of you…

Feminism will get us there one day because we are worth it. And I am not swishing my extensions or pouting my lips as I write that.

Well, thank god for the lack of that mental image…

This has to be one of her worst columns ever. And that’s saying a lot!

It's Not A Clown Car, Sweetie...

2009-11-23T17:31:00.001Z

A mum-of-13 who costs taxpayers £50,000 a YEAR has said she won't stop having kids until she gives birth to twins.

Baby machine Sara Foss, 39, is due to give birth to her 14TH child in April but will try to get pregnant again as soon as possible to realise her dream.

And as if that wasn’t enough, check out the chavtastic names they chose for their brood…

Her mammoth brood now comprises Patrick, 23, Stephen, 13, Malachai, 12, Peppermint, 11, Echo, 10, Eli, nine, Rogue, eight, Frodo, seven, Morpheus, five, Artemis, four, Blackbird, three, Baudelaire, two, and nine-month-old Voorhees.

It seems Ms Foss (or her sperm donor) is a bit of a film fan.

You wonder when they found the time to watch them, don’t you?

Because The NHS Has Money To Burn...

2009-11-23T09:00:00.003Z

Couples are to be offered marriage guidance counselling for free on the NHS...

*speechless*

That, after this, makes me think if we could only hook up the corpse of Nye Bevan with some copper wire and a generator, we could solve all our energy needs, with the rate it must be spinning...

Al Jahom points out that there's a fakecharity waiting in the wings to rub handfuls of taxpayer's cash all over their bodies and giggle with glee.

When You Absolutely, Positively...

2009-11-23T08:10:00.000Z

...want to make sure of your murder victim:

A teenager murdered on a trip to the local shops was stabbed and then run over by a car, police said tonight.

Ouch!

Officers were called to the incident shortly after 11pm on Thursday, and found a man suffering from stab wounds, a spokesman said.

The tyre tread marks on his body were, presumably, an extra clue...

"English, mother******, do you speak it?"

2009-11-22T11:15:00.001Z

From Friday's BBC News website: That penultimate story is dreadful, isn't it? Imagine a refugee minister sending hate mail!

It isn't until you click on the link that you realise that the minister actually received hate mail.

And he isn't a refugee who happens to be a minister either...

*sigh*

Tie Me Kangaroo Hippopotamus Down, Sport…

2009-11-22T10:10:00.001Z

Over at TetZoo Blog, in the comments to a story about the amazing photos of a crocodile killed by hippos, comes this extraordinary story from Down Under.

Some pig hunters bagged a very unusual trophy – a pigmy hippo!

Nico Courtney, 27, was out spotlighting for pigs with his mate Rusty on a station in the Douglas Daly district on Saturday night.

"It was about 1am and running away from us - from the tail end it just looked like a big pig," the station worker said.

"We got out, had a look at it, and thought 'that's not a pig, it's a hippo'.

"Then we thought 'you don't get hippos in Australia'."

It seems the animal is thought to have been living wild for about five years since escaping from Tipperary Station, a former exotic wildlife sanctuary founded by millionaire Warren Anderson.

Whereas anyone else would be freaking out at this discovery, the intrepid pig hunters were somewhat phlegmatic:

Mr Courtney said he rang a few mates to tell them what happened.

"They told me to go to bed," he said. "So I thought I'd better call the boss, and he said 'no it couldn't be'."

They both decided to get some shuteye and "reassess the situation in the morning".

But it was still a hippo come daylight.

Isn’t that just quintessentially Australian?

I doubt if anyone bagging the Bodmin Big Cat or netting Nessie would be able to contain themselves from contacting the media and negotiating the film rights there and then…

Sunday Funnies...

2009-11-22T08:15:00.000Z

Real life Reggie Perrins...

Protecting Your Children: Yr Doin It Wrong...

2009-11-21T10:55:00.003Z

A mother who struck her 12-year-old daughter with a computer cable, a broom, a wooden spoon and her fists has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Eh..?

The judge said sentencing of such cases was difficult.

Really? What's difficult about it?

The 37-year-old asylum seeker...

Ah. Now it all becomes clear.

Judith McCullough, defending, said the woman had come to the UK in 2005 to escape an abusive relationship with her ex-partner in order to protect her children.

What a bang up job she did too! Mother of the year, I'd say...

The relationship between the mother and her eldest child deteriorated because of cultural differences between the pair.

The girl told police that her mother thought she could treat her like she had been as a child. Children of her age in her home country were expected "to do everything", she complained.

So, we can chalk up another success story to 'diversity', can't we?

Barking, Hugh? I’ll Say You Are….

2009-11-21T09:30:00.002Z

Hugh Muir is at it again:

The evening rush outside the Vicarage Fields shopping centre in Barking has the skin tones of many of our major cities. A white English woman in a shiny black raincoat hurries to a cash machine. Another woman of Chinese extraction walks by, her neck protected by a fake-fur lining. Two Asian men in jogging gear chat behind her. A black man folds his newspaper and hurries home.

Oh, what a wonderful multicultural Garden of Eden (despite the hideous carbuncle that is Barking Train Station), eh, Hugh? How pleased you must be to see this, in the, ooh, let’s be generous and say three hours, four tops, you might have spent in Barking before fleeing back to the safety of Grauniad HQ.

Did you think to enquire if the ‘white English woman’ was happy with the way Barking has changed? Or didn’t it occur to you?

But it seems there’s a serpent whispering to the inhabitants of Barking, and Hugh cannot let that go without challenge:

Many people from different parts of the world have alighted here in Barking and this week Nick Griffin of the British National party announced that, come the next election, he plans to be their MP.

Which is unlikely, as it’s a Labour stronghold, though admittedly the BNP have done well there in the past.

The far right already forms the official opposition to Labour in Barking and Griffin sees easy pickings from the corpse of an old Labour fiefdom. He might be right. But Darren Rodwell tells me he may have to think again.

Oh, really? And what does Darren Rodwell (who he? We’ll find out) plan to do about it?

For things have been happening on the ground, things that might help Labour make up years of neglect that left estates vulnerable to the appeal of the BNP. It's not based on morality or political philosophy, he tells me. Those aren't the key drivers of opinion. It's practical. It has to be.

So, what’s the magic formula that will turn the Barking voter away from the BNP?

Please tell me it isn't the useless UAF, who decided to support the RMT in a demo against the BNP on Thursday, and all assembled outside Upney Tube Station, with a BBC reporter filming them...while Griffin went to Barking Town Hall!

The response, says Rodwell, born and bred in the area, must also be about the nuts and bolts, reconnecting with erstwhile supporters, showing empathy.

And they plan to do this by resolving the pressing issues with immigration, lack of housing and crime?

Oh:

That is why this year, Rodwell, 39, a tenants association leader and a Labour agent, has helped Margaret Hodge, his much-maligned MP, and other volunteers, deliver more than 150,000 letters and leaflets. They have knocked on 22,000 doors; made around 9,000 contacts; delivered 20,000 questionnaires. The politics of shoe leather.

They knocked on 22,000 doors and made 9,000 ‘contacts’. That’s just half.

And how many of those 9,000 told them they’d happily vote Labour as a result? How many told them something else?

Griffin will inevitably work hard – unlike some of his councillors in the town hall – for he sees the opportunity of a lifetime here. But Rodwell tells me that Labour, having realised where it went so wrong in its heartland, is ready to work harder.

Yeah. It’s ready to…well, spin. And avoid the issues. And send out leaflets.

That’ll do the trick, I’m sure.

And I can’t leave this post without uploading a screengrab of this article this morning, showing that the Grauniad’s reputation for poor editing is still intact:

They've fixed it now, sadly...

‘Learning Lessons’? Yeah. Right…

2009-11-21T08:50:00.001Z

Police and social workers have been criticised after a little girl was put back into the care of her abusive stepmother.

Yeah, you didn’t misread that; ‘back into the care of…’

The little girl was born in Portugal in 2002 before being moved to the UK at the age of three.

She lived in an overcrowded house in Lewisham and was subjected to a catalogue of abuse at the hands of her father's new girlfriend.

So she moved here in 2005; when did the abuse begin?

Pretty much immediately:

The first signs of harm came in November 2005 when someone living with the child reported a case of domestic abuse. A few months later a health visitor noticed a bruise on the child's face.
In October 2006 Ms G hit the child and was cautioned for common assault. This prompted Children's Social Care to move the three-year-old to live with "a family friend" where she was said to have "flourished".

And here’s the ‘But…’ that you know was coming:

However, a social worker "apparently without the authority of a manager" began planning overnight stays at the step-mum's house.

By early February 2007 the youngster was back living with Ms G and only months later she was telling a school teacher her step-mum had been hitting her.

And the authorities moved with the glacial speed we are now all familiar with:

After a further complaint of punching was made in November 2007, police investigated but took no action.

Huh..?

Following further incidents of "slapping" and claims from the child to social workers that "she slept on the floor", she was transferred into the care of her natural mother.

And now the report is out:

The report, published by the council's local safeguarding children board, said "poor" decision-making by social workers contributed to the blunders.

Oh, no s***, Sherlocks..!

It also stated: "A failure of communication within the Police Service meant the investigating officer remained unaware Ms G had previously been cautioned for an assault against child J."

And, presumably, also unaware that the child had been removed from the stepmother’s care on a previous occasion?

The paper doesn’t report what action is being taken against the people involved. I wonder why..?

Meet The New Tories...

2009-11-21T08:25:00.002Z

...not quite the same as the old Tories:

A councillor has been suspended from the Conservative Party after sending emails ranting that prospective parliamentary candidates do not have “normal" English names.

And if that was the sum of it, it'd just be another excuse for the hard-of-thinking to drag out their 'racist' banners and swamp all forums.

Oh, what am I saying? They will anyway.

They certainly won't wonder why selected prospective Tory candidates are this bone-ignorant:

“The candidates department are simply rushing these names through.

“They have absolutely no idea about how Associations are organised and have ZERO experience of political campaigning.

“Their emails are PATHETIC.”

Well, they sound like ideal candidates, don't they? I wonder why they were picked?

Less than 40 minutes later a second email to John Esler and other Bromley councillors criticised the prospective candidates for asking him questions about how to plan a speech, tips on canvassing and what to do if they can’t answer a question.

Cllr Hobbins also says in the email that prospective candidates have asked him where Orpington is and how to get there.

Say what...?

They can use email to send these questions, but they can't find the TfL page or GoogleMaps?

Now, I've never harboured any desire to run for election, but if I did, I hope I wouldn't be dumb enough to admit to a councillor for my prospective party that I didn't know where the place I was standing for was, not how to get there.

I wonder, just why are these names being rushed through?

Welcoming: Yr Doin It Wrong…

2009-11-21T08:10:00.001Z

So, the BNP has signed up its first non-white member:

An elderly Sikh who describes Islam as a "beast" and once provided a character reference for Nick Griffin during his racial hatred trial is set to become the British National Party's first non-white member.

And how does the membership react to this newcomer, this first-of-many to their fold?

A BNP spokesman said last night: "He is perhaps the kind of immigrant you want if you are going to have them."

/facepalm

There’s ‘damning with faint praise’, and then there’s whatever the hell that is…

Over at Blognor Regis, it is noted that anyone who would proclaim surprise at the BNP's choice has never studied history.

Can We Hope That 'Indefinitely' Means 'Forever'?

2009-11-21T08:02:00.006Z

A boy who drove a stolen car into a pedestrian just hours after he was released from a youth detention centre has been jailed indefinitely.

The pedestrian was killed.

Asa Hunter, 16, was at the wheel of the car that killed Thomas Drane, 61, on Mount Road, Gorton, Manchester. His body was recovered 37m (121ft) away.

And this wasn't just a single offence either - this kid was an accident waiting to happen:

The jury was told he had 19 convictions for 49 offences, committed since 2005.

So he's a habitual criminal, and has been since birth, I'd suspect. Certainly, killing someone didn't put a crimp in his style:

In another incident three weeks later, the defendant, then 15, drove into a group of youths, badly injuring two of them, the court was told.

And the sentence?

Judge Anthony James Hammond jailed him indefinitely, describing him as a danger to the public.

I suspect that danger was apparent long, long before he racked up his 10th conviction. Why was he allowed out to commit another 9?

But don't think that 'indefinitely' actually means something:

He must serve at least three years before being considered for parole and banned for applying for a driving licence for five years.

Jesus wept..!

“Water always wins.”

2009-11-20T12:08:00.000Z

Sad news from up North:

Fears were growing today for a police officer who went missing when a bridge was swept away in heavy floods after record-breaking rainfall swamped parts of northern England.

And spare a thought for the emergency services still on the ground, and above all, the volunteers:

A police spokeswoman said: 'Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service have 16 pumps actively assisting around the county at the moment while three boats are operating in Cockermouth ferrying stranded people to safety.

'Seven Royal National Lifeboat Institution boats are being sent over from the North East to assist emergency services.'

Keep them all safe…

Is It 'Cos I Is..?

2009-11-20T09:25:00.001Z

A sadistic mother-of-eight beat her children with a meat mallet and branded them with a hot screwdriver during a six-year campaign of abuse and neglect.

The children, who are all under 16, were regularly hit with objects including a belt and broken coat hanger. The woman even slashed one of them with a knife.

Over a period of six years..? How can this be, when the authorities swoop on mothers who haven't quite put away all the Dulux tins and those who raise their voices to their children in shops?

Perhaps she cunningly hid from the authorities?

Ah, no:

In a disturbing echo of the failings in the Victoria Climbie and Baby P cases, social workers monitored the family for years yet failed to pick up on the abuse.

Ho, hum.

Children's charity Kidscape described the case - and Cambridgeshire County Council's failure to look after the youngsters - as 'sickening'.

...

Questioning why social workers had failed to intervene for so long, he added: 'This seems to be part of an ongoing problem with social services nationally where departments are not joined-up in their thinking process and are not sharing information effectively.'

Was this a case of poor information sharing, or is there something else, perchance?

Well...

The mother, a Jamaican national living in Cambridge...

Ah. It all becomes much clearer now...

I guess lessons weren't learned after all.

Again.

And How Would He Know..?

2009-11-20T09:19:00.000Z

Gordon Brown congratulated the new president last night saying he was a man 'with a reputation for integrity and resolve'.

Wow!

That’s like being congratulated on your shy, retiring, modest nature by Katie Price…

"Ambition, like a torrent, never looks back."

2009-11-20T08:25:00.004Z

Oh, look, it’s Jim Gamble again on CiF, desperately shilling for his CEOP organisation, while hoping no-one mentions its sad history:

It's 4am and you're a burglar standing in front of two houses. One of them has a burglar alarm box and security light on the wall and the other one doesn't. Which one would you choose?

Wouldn’t really matter, would it Jim? The police and justice system response to either would probably be slow, lackadaisical or incompetent. Or all three.

But I digress…

More than three years ago, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, part of the UK police, developed a very simple way for children and young people to stay safe on the internet.

Three years is a heck of a long time in technology, Jimbo. Sure your up-to-the-minute solution is still valid?

It doesn't involve any kind of surveillance, blocking or filtering or deploying of hundreds of police officers across the myriad of chat rooms, social networking environments and forums in which children and young people congregate.

Because that would be impossible to police, and even this deluded, headline-chasing government isn’t about to give Gamble the manpower to do it…

Well, unless they think there’s a few votes in it for them. And sadly enough, there probably would be.

The CEOP report button was developed so that any user can press it whenever they need advice, help and support about online safety, or to make a report to specially trained officers at CEOP. People are in prison now because children have pressed this button – that's a terrific deterrent.

Really?

I hope they are in prison now because they were tried and convicted in a court of law, not simply because someone clicked a web button!

Freudian slip, Jimbo? Is that what you’d like to see happen?

During the course of a year, CEOP handles about 5,000 reports requiring some level of investigation; on average, around four reports a day indicate that a child is at risk or may be at risk of sexual abuse.

And how many come to fruition? How many result in someone being charged?

Why not tell us?

The action AOL Bebo has taken should be applauded because it has recognised that something as small and simple as the CEOP report button will have huge implications for the safety of its young users.

And here’s the kicker – having got his foot in the door at Bebo, Jimbo is using that as a bully pulpit to harangue the others with ‘You aren’t serious about protecting the chiiiilllldreeeen, you monsters!’:

It has also thrown down a marker for other major social networking sites – Facebook and Myspace, in particular – and Bebo has shown that there are no valid reasons not to do this.

So, one company has made a decision to get into bed with you, Jimbo, and that therefore means all the others should line up ready to bend over, does it?

Even if they have their own policies on this, or it might conflict with the law in their incorporating country?

These children are their customers – advertisers are attracted to them specifically because of their presence on those sites.

Really?

Because as commenter ‘xerode’ points out, they really shouldn’t be:

“One thing that is never mentioned in articles like this - Facebook/MySpace don't want kids registering and using their sites.

'Facebook does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for Facebook or send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number or email address. No one under the age of 13 may provide any personal information to or on Facebook. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible.'

'The MySpace Website is a general audience site and does not knowingly collect PII or Related Data from children under 13 years of age.'

This might be the reason they're hesitant to put the "help buttons" mentioned on their site - because legally (in the US at least), they're not allowed to have minors on there. If they were to start putting buttons aimed at minors on there, is that not an admission that minors are using the site?”

Quite…

But Jimbo’s ambitions don’t stop with CEOP:

I recognise that the button has potential beyond what's been talked about. Other vulnerable children – those who have run away from home, who are missing or even abducted, are one click away from getting help, getting in touch or contacting sometimes desperate parents.

Better not horn in on other fakecharities territory, if you know what’s good for you…

We believe there is no good reason why every social networking site should not have this feature if they claim to have their young users' welfare at heart.

Annnnd there’s the moral blackmail out in the open.

If you don’t have the button, why, clearly, you don’t have your ‘young users‘ (you know, the ones you actually warn against using your service) welfare at heart. And you probably eat kittens. Alive.

Jim Gamble, child protection expert extraordinaire. Whatta guy….