Police

Watching news items today in the wake of terrorist attacks and the appalling Grenfell tower fire, it’s apparent that the police are under an enormous pressure to investigate horrendous crimes and multiple deaths.

It was commented, by some in the force, that the stress that the police are under has caused serious mental health problems and consequences of this can only be imagined. Some chap decided to go on a news channel and say, in a nutshell, that the ‘people should manage their time better’ and there is ‘room for improvement’. Personally, I feel like punching someone in the face, when they come out with crap like that.

I know what it’s like to spend hours and hours working for little or no recognition, only to have managers criticise your every mistake or take you up on something you inadvertently forgot to do. People aren’t treated like human beings anymore, they are commodities that are easily replaced. This has to stop.

The culture in work isn’t about team work; although companies will insist it is. It’s about ringing out as much as you can get from a person. I saw it in education numerous times, where people had breakdowns or strokes due to overwork and stress. No matter how long you have worked, or how much to have done to build a career, putting your health on the line isn’t worth it.

The Government has to act now to reverse the cuts to police forces. Stop putting out sound bites that say that ‘crime is falling’ and other faux-justifications for cuts. General crimes like robbery and burglary may have fallen, but other crimes have risen, such as knife and cyber crime.

The abuse that the police get is unjustifiable. Criticising the police with one hand and then the next week demanding they solve a crime that you might have been affected by is not acceptable. It’s hypocritical and childish.

 

London Terrorist Attack

I watched the events unfold on the television yesterday afternoon and was appalled that people were killed in such a brutal way. Innocent people from all over the world were caught up in this attack. I walked along Westminster Bridge two weeks ago and was amazed at the different nationalities that were stood there taking photos and selfies with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the background.

Within minutes of this attack, the vile Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) former leader of the EDL was in the middle of London near to the scene ranting about Muslims and how the country was at war. He claimed that ‘we’ had been at war with Islam for 1400 years hinting that since its inception that somehow Islam wasn’t a religion but brandishing an entirely with the mark of terrorism.

Let me tell you Mr. FUCKING Robinson or whatever you call yourself that this time last week I was treated in hospital by a Muslim doctor wearing a headscarf. Had it not been for her quick thinking and response to my illness I may not have been here to type these words. She wasn’t thinking about ending life she was there to save it.

I relish the day when I do meet you. When I do get the opportunity to tell you the damage, hatred, and poison you rant about is pathetic. You are no better than the terrorists that carry out these vile attacks. If I am a liberal Marxist leftie or whatever the fucking stupid label your organizations brand us with I would rather be that than the hate-filled, bile encrusted fuckwit that you are.

RIP – Jo Cox MP

These are the headlines as I write on this terrible day. I am upset that she has lost her life doing the thing she wanted to do and help her constituency lead a decent life in West Yorkshire.

As with the shooting in Orlando over the past weekend we have seen claim and counter-claim from various sides of the political debate. People appropriating blame where it certainly does not lie.

I made a simple statement on the Britain First Facebook site and said that if the person who has been detained made the comment ‘Britain First’ numerous times then their organisation would be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. After about fifteen minutes I expected that it would be deleted as they don’t like people criticising their vile beliefs. I was right and getting just over a hundred likes the comment disappeared.

Britain First openly claimed that they will use “direct action” against Sadiq Khan to target where he “lives, works and prays”. The underlining racism that BF has and their hatred for Muslims and people who are seen to be colluding with them make them a dangerous organisation. I would rather have a Muslim living next-door to me than a member of Britain First. That is the level of distrust I have for this despicable organisation.

In all instances of any crime such as this, there has to be a full investigation and especially when there has been a murder it could take months. It is only a speculation at the moment that the alleged attacker has a disturbing motive for the crime but once it has been established the correct proscribing should take place.

Like others, I will continue to say that hate, division, and racist beliefs have no place in the UK or any civilised society. My thoughts are with Jo Cox and her family at this terrible time.

School Stabbing

It was about 2001 and I had to meet with a parents of a pupil who had brought a knife into school. At the time I thought it was going to be a simple case of telling the parents that we were deeply concerned at the matter and the people would be dealt accordingly at home as well as being suspended from school.

I explained the situation and the parents were completely indifferent. They thought that it was right that their son should bring a knife into school as he was being “picked on” and he did it to protect himself. Even after the meeting concluded and we had explained that under no circumstance should such a weapon be brought on to the premises they still believed that they were right to support their son. It was an appalling situation as the son joined us in the meeting and he looked exonerated. His parents condoned his actions.

I am deeply saddened by the news that a teacher has been stabbed to death in Leeds. But I am certainly not shocked at all at this situation. The rhetoric on news channels to say that schools are ultimately safe place just isn’t true. I believed that this would happen even all those years ago. Let’s hope something good comes of this terrible tragedy. Education is the key response to this.