The Secret Barrister, he of book fame, has a wonderful tweet which recalls my previous piece on the criminal justice system but is much more detailed. It is unfortunately, even worse than I initially thought. I’ve linked to the thread here so if you are interested – and I think we all ought to be,… Read more
Category:
Police
Justice denied
In Johnson’s very soft and undemanding breakfast interview yesterday he said he wanted ‘county lines gangs totally wound up‘. I , (together with the Evening Standard!) have already suggested an educational route that would help. But, if he’s actually serious, in order to achieve that ‘winding up’ he will have to spend some money on… Read more
State underfunding has consequences for justice
I don’t intend to write much about this but I think that this travesty in the short, linked article below is well worth highlighting: What public interest was there in prosecuting Supt Robyn Williams for possessing a video she never wanted? This is a black woman – just with 36 years of unblemished Police service,… Read more
Control by Licensing
Having spent most of my life near alcohol, I’m very conscious that the state both licences me to supply it – and also licences the premises that I supply it from. Thus I require both a personal licence, for which you need to pass an exam, undergo a Criminal Record Check (and yes I have… Read more
Media myopia isn’t the only crime – but it is one of the worst
While all eyes are turned upon the possibility of preventing a proroguing of Parliament (the spoof twitter account ‘Not Boris Johnson’ is currently thanking the 274 MPs who voted in favour of him closing down Parliament and running a dictatorship instead, whilst ‘Our future our choice’ has, wonderfully, dubbed Johnson as Trump with a Thesaurus),… Read more
Check, mate?
I’d say this (found on twitter) is neoliberal capitalism. Or, perhaps it is neoliberalism? Or capitalism? Either way it is surely not the way society should work…… Read more
Extinction Rebellion, the Police purpose – and us
According to the most recent ‘Sunday Times’, the joint founders of the Extinction Rebellion, Roger Hallam of King’s College, London and Gail Bradbrook, have spent the last three years researching one hundred years of reform movements and were convinced that the overwhelming evidence for successful reform came about by peaceful protest. Good for them. Instictively,… Read more
Less likely to be imprisoned in Victorian times than today
An intriguing but rather depressing item on education and prisoners has appeared….. We mostly probably know that today about half of our prisoners are functionally illiterate. According to this linked ‘Guardian’ article: half of the 85,000 people currently incarcerated have a reading age of 11 or lower – with 20% falling well short of that… Read more
Less safe after any Brexit…
It is sobering to hear the Commissioner of the Met Police, Cressida Dick, state that Britain is likely to be less safe after any Brexit at all – and in any case it is likely to be financially costly. This is to most, I suggest, unsurprising. What might encourage Conservative remainers to ensure there is… Read more
Worthless of the world unite
There is a lovely ‘Le Monde’ quote that “The elites talk about the end of the world while the people talk about the end of the month.” And that indeed would appear to be a predominant complaint of the ‘gilets jaunes’. Macron has enhanced the impoverishment of the people whilst the rich have been granted… Read more