Monthly Archives: April 2009
Cameron Eats Foot In Public
No-one cares. Quoted all over the shop, Cameron referred to the first government loss of an Opposition Day debate since the era of Callahan as; “A historic day where parliament took the right decision.” Er, Dave, you might want to … Continue reading
JQP in brief
Partly in an attempt to get my head off the G20 debacle I’ve got a couple of things I think need more eyes on them. 1. Craig Murray needs attention I really cannot understand why no newspaper or TV channel … Continue reading
Culpability VI: Law or Order?
Having gone truncheons to tasers in a generation, I also have to wonder what purpose the current Police Service has been built for? [...] It looks like we have been built to violently confront and overcome people. I am not … Continue reading
Culpability V: That which is seen
“Police brutality is not new”, say the right-wing blogs. Well, no. “Police brutality is worse elsewhere”, say the trolls. Well, yes; so what? We’ve been doing this Enlightenment thing longer than any other continuous democracy: we’ve had more chances to … Continue reading
Culpability IV: Punishment and Crime
The previous two posts have laid out a disturbing impression of police policy and culture. The culture and direction from senior officers is explicitly encouraging the avoidance of accountability, which is scandalous in armoured riot troops. Officers are systematically misusing … Continue reading
Culpability III: Proof of Intent
There was a man in trouble in 2001 called Richard Clarke. He was Clinton’s head of cyber-security and anti-terror, and the Bush regime hadn’t got round to replacing him yet. That meant he was an outsider in the neo-con halls … Continue reading
Culpability II: Long arm, no face
It has been apparent since the second of April that the rioting police in the Square Mile had hoist themselves upon their own petard. I heard a man had died circa one in the morning, via a mobile phone conversation … Continue reading
Culpability I: Causes for Concern
We have one specific request, which may seem a minor request but we believe it is an essential foundation for policing in which the public can have confidence. It is vital that police officers in riot gear have their identification … Continue reading
JQP in brief
Not sure when I’m next going to get writing time, so a context update: this pdf report has now come out. Now we know what the orange jackets were doing, and can see why the police may have been targeting … Continue reading
Feast of Fools IV: What a tangled web we weave…
This is a high-speed event update as I’m working a bar shift: more considered thoughts will have to wait ’til after the weekend, unfortunately. However, the continued saga of misconduct surrounding Metropolitan policing now sees the assaulting officer under suspicion … Continue reading
Para-military 101
Strange and eldritch [1] things happen on the Dark Continent. This has been well known for centuries. I experienced one in 1992 when I was at a boarding school in Africa. One of my teachers, who we’ll call Mr. Albert, … Continue reading
Oh, and another thing…
If anyone’s expecting a comment on the Derek Draper / Iain Dale / Guido ForksFawkes trainwreck: just no. This blog is for big picture issues.
Bank Holiday Punday
Bank Holiday weekends are a bitch if you’re in the pub trade, partly because they tend to be hideously busy and partly because half your staff have pre-booked family engagements to go to just when you’re really busy. I’ve thus … Continue reading
Feast of Fools III: Guilty
Two things have happened since I last was online. Firstly, ITN released further footage of the recorded assault on Ian Tomlinson by a rioting officer. This is good: second sources are always nice, and this revealed that a lot of … Continue reading
Feast of Fools II: Foot in Mouth
This time they’ve killed one of their own: an innocent Square Mile worker on his way home. The police policy of squeeze-then-crush has led directly to the death of a man who wasn’t even protesting, let alone a violent or … Continue reading
