Broken Bonds

The Holocaust Memorial Day was commemorated last week. The Guardian included interviews with six of the dwindling number of survivors living in the UK. Each told a deeply traumatic story of personal tragedy amid unspeakable wickedness. But in each case they emerged from their horrors into the unending relief of the predicatable safety of a routine existence.

Sabina Miller (pictured) lived an almost feral existence in the forests of Northern Poland in the early 1940s but soon after the war settled in Hampstead London, raised a family and lived a comfortable life. On her reception into English society, this remarkable lady said, "For the first two or three years I was still apprehensive to tell people I was Jewish. I fell in love with this country because what I got was kindness and acceptance." Here is a great example of our common humanity as a country to protect the persecuted- it should be a source of immense pride to us.

It was once but we seem to have regressed into an altogether more selfish and pernicious view of the needy and vulnerable who come to our shores for sanctuary. Or laws and institutions reflect this hardening of hearts.

A more modern version of Britain's treatment of an asylum seeker is Carmen Quiroga. She arrived with her children from Bolivia in 2002 and despite prima facie evidence of persecution and torture had her claim for asylum refused. Like a huge proportion of similar cases, she was successful in gaining a hearing for judicial review.

However, with a legal case still pending she and her family were arrested illegally, forced from their home and incarcerated in Oakington detention centre. The staff there routinely abused Mrs Quiroga, food and medicine were denied her children and twice they attempt to deport this family.

During one interrogation, she was struck by a guard for failing to keep eye contact. This assualt, for merely showing defiance in the face of oppressive bullying, was carried out in front of her children.

Within two years they had all been issued with passports and citizenship but had to wait eight years for any offer of compensation for this unforgivable brutality from the British state. She'll be waiting a while lot longer for any apology.

Just Not Satisfied

England captain, John Terry, was awarded 'Dad of the Year' a couple of months ago. It would seem only the sporting accolade of leading England is under threat of being rescinded following the murky details of his adulterous affair revealed in the Sun yesterday.

Like many millionaire footballers with a hugely puffed up view of their own importance, Terry thought flashing his fat wallet at the lawyers could make all the media coverage go away. He first ensured his lover, Vannessa Perroncel, was silenced under a confidentiality agreement.

His lawyers' attempt at combining their legalese with Terry's crude West London parlance, resulted in this rather clinical wording. "As a result of my dealings with you there has been speculation of a relationship with you. Whilst I do not make any admission as to the truth or otherwise of such speculation, I do not want such speculation to be disclosed. "

What JT wants, he expects to get, so instructed his lawyers to take out a super-injunction order preventing any articles appearing in the media and even any reporting of the existence of the order. Thankfully, the judge, Justice Tugendhat, thought the arguments for simply protecting Terry's privacy were not proportionate owing to the "fact of the relationship". In other words the Sun had the simple justification of it being a true story.

The lawyers also incurred his Honour's wrath by not even notifying the media about the order which meant the judge, "had not the benefit of arguments in opposition." In refusing the maintainence of the order he added with some irony, " I am not satisfied." Terry with £6m wages a year, a beautiful wife and the pissest of easy jobs in the world could not have put it better.

His lawyers may have had more success if they had followed the example of a Premiership manager who was caught visiting a brothel last month. They argued for defamation not privacy and the press still not dare publish although his identity can revealed in searching for about five seconds in any football chatroom.

But so much for the media's self-congratulation about busting the order. They are also guilty of failing to condemn these incredibly wealthy and arrogant half-wits filling the Premiership. The tone of most coverage implies their celebrity status gifts them additional value as people - disgraceful behaviour, even domestic violence, is labelled mildly as an, "indiscretion".

Here's a perfect example of how the collusion between footballers and the media obscures their utter selfishness and limitless apathy over the lot of the general public. A couple of years ago, all players were universally praised for "digging deep" for nurses. The campaign was for all Premiership players to give only one day's wages to the noble cause.

Far fewer papers covered the outcome which showed precious few fulfilling their widely publicised pledges. Although some clubs like Fulham and West Ham paid in full, Chelsea, led by their "inspirational" captain Terry, gave nothing at all.

Aussie Rules

Traditionally, it has been the Conservative Party which has cast an eye to matters Australian for inspiration at election time. Lynton Crosby, master strategist and good buddy to old PM John Howard, has been summoned from Down Under more than once to advise Tories about campaigning.

Senior Labour figures have been looking even further back into the Antipodean past, pondering how the ‘Mighty’ Bob Hawke (pictured) managed to win three landslides for Labour in the 1980s. However it is not the official election strategists who are looking for lessons to learn but the arch anti-Brown plotters.

Bob Hawke gained the leadership for Labour in February 1982 just a month before the General Election where he thumped the incumbent Malcolm Fraser with his superior communications skills, known locally as being a “bloody good bloke”. The rejuvenation of the party following the very late defenestration of the dullard Bill Hayden is preying on minds of key Brown haters such as Charles Clarke.

It was all too much for Geoff ‘Mogadon’ Hoon and Patricia ‘Pat’ Hewitt this week when they issued a letter on Wednesday inviting MPs to get in a huddle and count the number of dissenters. It would not be hard to find 100 if they could be persuaded to be honest for a moment; that would have been enough to maim Brown’s premiership.

But they figured without the constitution of the party which requires a drawn out contest and a special conference. Only Brown’s resignation could kick start a quick election. Hardly a likely prospect from this Great Political Limpet.

There was one other fundamental difference: Hawke was stratospherically ahead of all other candidates; whereas Labour has no outstanding alternative. Hawke’s appeal was multi-layered, he was a good knockabout Parliamentarian and moderate ex-union leader aligning him perfectly with the central tenet of Aussie philosophy – every bloke (and Sheila) "deserves a fair go.” His electoral hopes were hugely enhanced by the revelation he briefly held the world record for sinking a yard of ale. Let’s face it, three pints of ice-cold lager in eleven seconds is really going some for any cobber.

And there’s no doubt that accolade gave him more cred with the public than David Milliband ever could with his banana.

Insults of the Season to You

And another immigration related matter. Several of my previous blog entries have suggested the managers and directors of the UK Border Agency live in a parallel universe or at the very least chose to be divorced from humanity.

This week we have conclusive truth, if it were still needed. The UKBA Comms Department have drawn up a Christmas card so devoid of seasonal cheer it could have been designed by King Herod himself. The card pictures the traditional three-tiered Christmas tree shape but is cleverly made up of the Agency’s dismal ‘goals and values’. Emblazoned across this reassuring image are the words “tougher enforcement regimes”, “finger-printing visa applicants” and “deporting a record number”. Obviously no-one in the chain of command which allowed this festive obscenity to be produced has enough humanity left to realise what a PR disaster the card is.

Follow this link to experience the full jaw-dropping horror of it.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_I7rSe6rzIXw/SyN1f1uxLXI/AAAAAAAADfk/jm6RSxA-PRQ/s1600-h/ukbroderagencychristmascard%5B6%5D.jpg

It doesn't end there. About 2,000 children are incarcerated at Yarl’s Wood and other detention centres every year. Two American priests who attempted to distribute presents to the children were confronted by humourless security officers from Serco who immediately called the plod. It would be hard to find a better example of the arrogance of corporate overpowering human frailty than the contemptuous manner these good men were dealt with.

Still Racist After all These Years

Some senior elements of the Met police have worked hard in recent years to portray their organisation as free of institutionalised racism. But there are hundreds of beat officers and desk sergeants able to destroy this façade at a stroke by their crass and negligent behaviour.

Cynthia Boakye, 43, shared a house in South London with a man who had failed to appear in court on immigration charges. Although unconnected with the case, Cynthia herself was arrested last Thursday morning. Police officers chose not to question Mrs Boakye under caution at her home address. Despite being sole carer for her 18-month old daughter, Audrey (pictured), she was dragged off to Walworth Road nick.

Once at the cop shop, Sergeant Thick realised the questioning could hardly continue while the little one was crying. So cursory efforts were made to locate a relative to take care of the infant. A little while later, a woman also from West African descent, arrived and the child was handed over. No ID check was requested and no officer thought fit to check with Mrs Boakye.

It turned out this woman had no connection to the family and must have overheard an officer loudly arranging the child’s welfare. Three days later Audrey was found in Harlesden, north London.

The child’s grandmother Agatha Owsuah’s angry response was omitted from most press reports. She only spoke the obvious when she said, "All the time in this country they check your identity. They ask for my ID when I take money from the bank, they ask for ID before you can get a job. They should have asked for ID before handing over a human being to someone."

But the police’s statement offered no hint of regret let alone apology to this disgraceful dereliction of the basic duties of safeguarding. One of their spokespeople said there would be a review and only offered this lethargic assurance, "to ensure that any lessons are learned". Yes, certainly one lesson would be to treat people whatever their background with some respect.

In an attempt to successfully sour community relations further, at least five members of Mrs Boakye’s family were arrested on suspicion of involvement. All were bailed, unsurprisingly. Similar high-handed, prejudicial treatment of the black community led to riots in London, Bristol and Liverpool in the 1980s. Don’t be surprised to these battle lines drawn again some time soon.

Brutality Licensed

The Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, is an intelligent man and usually pretty adept politically. Yet, he briefed the Daily Mail yesterday suggesting, under Tory rule, homeowners tackling burglars should escape conviction unless they use 'grossly disproportionate' force.

His remarks were obviously forced upon him by Andy Coulson, head of Comms at Conservative HQ in an attempt to grab the vigilante vote. He denied, like a good little politician, his comments were not meant to coincide with the jailing of businessman Munir Hussain for beating an intruder into a pulp.

There is no doubt the burglar in this case, Walid Salem, was due a bit of a spanking after he had tied up Hussain’s family and threatened them with a knife. The law, which was reviewed again last year, allows for that. But the judge in this case was quite right to jail Hussain and his brother Tokeer for continuing an almost murderous assault on the dismal Salem with a cricket bat and an iron bar.

The press have slanted the coverage of this case massively to the extent that Hussain 'the innocent', is the only one jailed while the burglar walks free. What better example could there be of the inverted values of 21st Century Britain of human rights, political correctness and healthy and safety lunacy?

The reason Salem could not be sentenced to a long stretch was because his injuries left him so brain-damaged there was no point. His Honour, Judge Reddihough, put it succinctly, "It is somewhat ironic that by reason of the head injuries inflicted upon him he was unfit to plead and could not be sentenced to the very long period of imprisonment which would otherwise have been imposed upon him."

The Daily Mail has opened an on-line poll on whether it was acceptable for home owners to use self-defence against intruders. No doubt the colossal majority in favour will be held as conclusive proof of how out of touch the politicians and judges are with the man in the street. Self-defence is well…self-defence and does not equate to beating an unconscious man round the head with sporting equipment until he can never tie his shoes again.

Each article attacking the sentences all conveniently omitted mention of the jury confirming the Hussains’ guilt. Most of the rabid columnists held up that other brutal con, Tony Martin, as a hero of the people. One wonders why even the most populist programme makers have not thought to invite Mr Martin to divulge his views on the Criminal Justice system. I understand all one could expect from Martin would be a barely coherent racist tirade of such venom, it would make Richard Littlejohn sound like the Dalai Lama.

These brave polemicists, now including Chris Grayling, who advocate a disproportionate response, are unlikely to have had much experience of very violent encounters. Meting out retribution, nearly to the point of death, is only satisfying to thugs and sadists; to the rest of us it would be a highly traumatic psychological experience in itself and not one to relish.

Nearly a Revolution

Electoral reform, whose obituary was already half-written, appears to be rising Lazarus-like from the dead. On Monday, there was a meeting of the traditionally hidebound, Democratic Renewal Council. This Cabinet Committee contains nearly all senior Secretaries of State and is usually chaired by the PM but it was only Justice Secretary Jack Straw who was giving lobby briefings yesterday.

Wor Jack appears to be another recent convert to the cause of electoral reform, like so many turkeys who can smell the chestnut stuffing. It now looks like the movement for some degree of reform has reached a critical mass in cabinet, too much for even Gordy to resist.

The mechanics of its introduction will go like this; it will require initial approval by cabinet on Thursday then the laying a Government amendment to the Constitutional Reform Bill to be heard by the House in January. It will be paving legislaion for the next Government to pick up.

The whole Bill has yet to receive its second reading so those House managers will have to allow plenty of debate time. It will certainly put the Tories on the back foot and it will be amusing to see Dominic Grieve give his lawyer’s view, devoid of any sense of political justice.

But we shouldn’t get overly excited just yet, Straw has only stretched beyond his obstinacy to allow the Alternative Vote (AV). This system is currently used in London Mayoral elections where second and third preference votes are added until a candidate reaches 50%. The advantages are that it preserves the link between constituency and MP, by cannot be said to be proportional. It is in effect First-Past-The-Post lite. The Lib-Dems feel it is hardly worth the bother and I, for one, can see their point.