"TIME TO TAKE STOCK"

Just who writes the Prime Minister speeches? Whoever it is they are either having a laugh at his expense or they need a dose of Conservative moral discipline. He began this mornings speech, speaking in his Oxford constituency with the following nugget of wisdom

"It's time for our country to take stock"

all this against a dodgy background of graffiti painted hoodies peering at him from behind.

Well I think someone forgot to tell "Call me Dave" that that's just what parts of Britain did last week during the riots, they took all of Curry's stock and that in PC World, as well as that from many small convenience stores! Hardly a wise choice of the lexicon Dave

He also re announced his war on gangs and talked of even tougher measures being taken against those involved as well as those not involved but who fits his picture of Britain's Moral Decline.

He wants American super cops telling us where we are going wrong, despite every police chief in Britain saying he is wrong, he wants benefits withdrawn from the families involved, and he has even suggested evicting families from their council homes if a member of the family is involved (so if you are going to loot, you better get on the property ladder)

Now whilst all this may go down well with Daily Mail readers and the far right, do any of us really think it is the answer to the problem? Will the evicted families who lose benefit be more inclined to crime to survive or less? Is it remotely affordable?, and even more important is it the answer?

Someone somewhere has to put a stop to this "tough talking" before things really get out of hand and before the government creates it's own riots off the back of using lasts weeks unrest for their own warped political purposes.

Ursula Nevin wasn't involved in the riots, she did as was suggested and stayed at home in Stretford, Manchester during the unrest looking after her two children aged 1 and 5, unfortunately for her her flat mate Gemma Craven was involved and bought looted clothes back to the flat. Ursula took a pair of £3.50 shorts from her flat mate and was arrested and charged with receiving stolen goods. Despite her previous good character and lack of police record the Judge decided tough justice meant she should be locked up for 5 months! 5 months imprisonment for receiving a £3.50 pair of shorts! Of course she was in the wrong and of course she should be punished, but how are we helping her or her two children by slamming her in Prison for 5 months, and how much will it cost the state to look after her children in the interim.

If "Call me Dave" is serious about his all out war on gangs and his tough love approach to Britain's moral malaise then he needs to get his cheque book out. He needs to scrap cuts to the Police who will be needed in greater number to fight his war. He needs to reverse the decision to reduce prison numbers so he can lock up more Ursula Nevin's and he needs to order local government to abandon it's cuts to social care and intervention services on the state as Councils ace the brunt of his tough stance.

We are all angry at those who carried and perpetrated these dreadful crimes on our streets, and we need to hold an inquiry to help us develop policies that work in dealing with the cause of that unrest, but knee jerk responses from the same man who wanted to hug the hoodies when it suited his political agenda will only fuel further unrest.

Meanwhile Dave, sack the speech writer.

WHEN HOPE IS OUT OF REACH AND THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF TOUCH WHY ARE WE SURPRISED THAT OUR STREETS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

I have been criticised in the past for predicting on this blog unrest on Britain's streets during this summer despite my plea for the police to prepare and my wish that any unrest would be quickly controlled.

I also share the anger of so many when looking at the blatant looting going on in High Streets across the nation, it seems the riots of 2011 are for far too many, more about personal gain than community despair.

And no doubt the whole role of Social Media in the planning of events will be questioned when we finally get round to trying to understand what went so badly wrong.

The right will just condemn the criminality, give unequivocal support for the police and belittle anyone trying to explain the events with any reference to wider social and economic factors including unemployment, poverty, historic tensions with the Police etc.

But for now let us face some uncomfortable truths.

Today's youth have no respect for authority, why should they have? They have seen in recent years our politicians on the make as MP's fiddled their expenses,  they see our police service shamed by the actions of both rogue officers taking backhanders and senior officers covering up for them. They see a government cutting off any route they may have had for higher education (unless you are wealthy) and their chances of simply holding down a job or god forbid getting their own flat. Youth unemployment is rising and services for young people are being decimated by cuts on top of cuts.

Today people are calling for more police officers on the streets, but I can't help but think that if the government had not have cut youth services and youth worker posts on our estates in recent years then maybe some of those caught on camera last night might not have been such easy prey for the criminal fraternities on the same estates who have since recruited them to a their cause.

There is at this moment in time a desperate need to bring our streets back under control, and everything must be done to achieve that in the coming hours and days. We also need to ensure that those responsible for looting are seen to be brought to the courts and punished.

But we must also remember that riots don't just happen, the risk of public unrest is a built in factor in the decision making of politicians when they agree to cut services too far too soon. When I wrote of this unrest being wrongly seen an unpredictable "Black Swan" moment is was for the very reason that many of us could see it coming a mile off.

Unfortunately the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and it seems the Metropolitan Police where not so ready for action. Gone are the days when Dave wanted to hug a hoodie. Now he is in power it seems he just wants to ignore them and hope they will just go away

But If you think the kids are angry for what the nation is not doing for them, then what can we expect from the rest of us who are seeing our communities torn apart with little resistance from a police service which has been cut to the bone and can only contain unrest rather than deal with it properly.

Perhaps we need less troops in Libya and Afghanistan and more Police in the UK?

Perhaps we need less cuts and more jobs?

Perhaps MLK had a point when he said

"When you cut facilities , slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate,drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the language of the unheard"

 But I can't also help myself thinking that the concerns of the majority of hard working, law abiding, tax paying citizens of our nation are also going unheard. If I want my tax take spent on youth diversion rather than flower tubs in Abington Street then who is listening to me? If I want less troops in Libya and more police on our streets at home then who will represent my view? My sister in law and others in her street had their cars stripped of catalytic converters last night leaving them with bills of £150+ to pay today with no guarantee that the scum responsible wont come back again to do the same. After all their crime was easy enough to carry out as the County Council had turned off all the street lights in her street! How angry is she today? and how can she vent her anger? And how angry am I at wondering how no one seemed to see all this coming!

As I said on the 26th June 2011  http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-many-black-swans-does-greek-urn.html

"I hope I am wrong, I hope that the powers that be will not be caught off their guard and do all they can to protect our peace but we are in for an uncomfortable few weeks and maybe months ahead, it seems it will be less of an Arab Spring and more of a very sticky British Summer."

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

SHONA DEANS (MESSINGER) Born 29/10/1963 Died 19/06/2011

Another funeral today I am afraid, they say that the older you get the less weddings and the more funerals you attend, but what shook me today I guess is that we were saying goodbye to an old school friend Shona Deans.

So is this a new chapter in my life where those of the same age start to depart stage left?

Well hopefully not too quickly, Shona was only 47 and died of cancer and as such left this life far far too early, but I guess in any group of friends some will go too early and other will seem to be around forever and always manage to look younger than you do?

Shona was a real star, full of life and energy, always thinking of others whilst also enjoying her own life to the full. At school she was drooled over by the boys for her looks and respected by all because of her strong will and character.

Shona got me in to real trouble at School after I had bought the current Mrs Clarke three red roses for Valentines day, Shona wanted to know where hers were. I suggested to Carole that as I had given her three that she might want to share at least one of them with Shona. As I remember neither Carole nor Shona were too hot on that suggestion and it was not one of my more better diplomatic inputs!

Carole finally relented, and a couple of weeks back took three red roses up to Shona in Cynthia Spencer, unfortunately, Shona was too ill for visitors on that day and passed away on the 19th.

Today at the funeral Shona's son Ross was a real credit to her as he calmly yet obviously emotionally told us all what a great job his mum had made of bringing him and his sister up as a single parent and how the lessons she had taught them would go on to help them both throughout their lives.

I believe Ross is only 19, but he has had to grow up very quickly since his mum was diagnosed, he was a rock today, and his mother would have been very proud of him and of her daughter who also helped to lead the mourners with an obvious love and pride for a good mother taken away from them way before it was her time to go.

Sleep well Shona XX

FIGHTING FOR PEACE

Luckily today's Trade Union action has passed with only minor scuffles breaking out in London as Anarchists, helpfully having dressed themselves up in all black so they could easily be identified, failed to get past police lines and cordons.

Unlike some peope I am happy to give my full unequivical support and soidatory for those taking industrial action. Why shouldn't they do so. There pay has been frozen for two years and now a sorry mixture of Tory, Lib and Labour muppets in parliament tell them that they need to pay a lot more each month for their pension which will be smaller than they were promised and that they cant retire until they are 66! Breach of contract Full Stop. And if Local Government cant afford it then they shouldn't have been so keen to take so many pension holidays in the 1990's or used their non paid contributions to offset council tax rises

The troubles however in Greece continue to escalate. But if I am allowed a slight giggle at what is a very worrying time, it is because of a classic live interview given yesterday lunchtime on Radio 4 by a Greek protester.

The unknown women was asked what she had witnessed following what seemed like a massive brawl on the streets outside of the Greek Parliament and she told the beebs reporter without any sense of irony:

"It was nothing much really, we are all peaceful protesters and we had found amongst us a man dressed all in black who was clearly there just to cause trouble, so we all decided to beat him up"

Fair enough I guess? who needs total pacifism whilst there are still just causes to be fought for? Trouble is from the shots I have seen the rioters are in black, the police are in black and many of the local muslim community wear black, so its not an easy call!

Still anarchists in Britain should beware!!


IT GETS DIRTIER AND DIRTIER

Some of you may remember this post:

http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/search?q=dirty+little+secret

In it I outlined how thousands of tonnes of contaminated waste had allegedly been dumped onto Delapre Abbey in 2005 within the two giant earth bunds by a local contractor (Thomas Haulage) right under the noses of the Borough Council and the officers who were supposed to be monitoring the works.

Despite Northampton Borough Council having been given signed affidavits from both one of the Lorry Drivers involved who tipped the contaminated waste and also another from one of those who had loaded it on the wagons, they had still failed in their statutory duty to take proper legal action to bring the polluter to justice and to make them pay for the clear up of the site. Because unless they do it will be and you who picks up the bill in the long run through our council tax

I also raised this matter in the council chamber on several occasions only to repeatedly hear from the then Liberal Democrat Administration that there was no contamination!

So I was interested to read in Saturdays Chronicle and Echo that the same company has just been fined £27,500 for dumping more illegal waste (10,000 Tonnes) into a lake at Billing Aquadrome last year! This action was taken by the Environment Agency, well done to them. But what about Delapre Abbey?

In addition I recently got sent anonymously some photos of the said waste in situ, and I have asked for more!

The continued failure by the Council to take any action, despite the overwhelming and growing evidence pointing to an even bigger crime having been committed at Delapre Abbey suggests that they are either Spineless, Gutless cowards unwilling to tackle the polluters and to make them pay, or even worse it suggests they may have something themselves to cover up regarding this whole sorry affair?

Either way I think a new Conservative Administration should take the opportunity afforded to them in being newly elected to make a statement declaring their intentions.

As I have said before this one will not got away!! No matter how deep some people want to bury it.

"What a Jerk"

I promised myself I would avoid any more story's about Clyde Loake's activities, mostly because he gets more press on my blogspot, than he been able to achieve in total elsewhere in his so far lack lustre campaign for the Northampton South seat. But his latest antics are just too bizarre to be passed over without comment.

I am sure you may have read elsewhere that last week Clyde "went national" in the press to defend the stance of his council as they "raided" an Afro Caribbean restaurant, the "Bamboo Joint"in Leytonstone High Street.

7 Police officers in stab vests and 3 councils officials paid an early morning visit to this most dangerous of establishments and ordered it's owners to close within three days.

Their crime? well having reapplied for planning permission after a refit and despite having already traded for 3 years in the premises, they fell foul of the Councils new by law of selling "junk food" within 400 metres of a school or 200 metres of a park. The "junk food" they sell includes stewed cabbage, spinach, aki and salt fish, steamed fish, ox tail, soups, rice and peas, yam and bananas, curried goat and curried chicken and of course jerk chicken. Nothing is deep fried.

As part of the councils war on child obesity this "big brother" attitude towards local families means that the restaurant will now close , it's staff will be made redundant and it's owners business will go to the wall. . So whats Clyde's view? any chance of a change of heart or an acknowledgement that in a time of recession local jobs might be worth protecting? No chance, he just told the news crews that" 'This fast food outlet has not got planning permission and has absolutely no chance of getting it, because of its proximity to a park and a school, so we're closing it down." What a hero, I hope he is thoroughly proud of himself.

The restaurant has had problems in the past with it's Hygiene certificate, however the recent refit brought the standard up to the Councils requirements, So for them to sit back and allow the owners to invest in bringing the restuarant up to standard and then close it under this ridiculous bylaw is just cruel and unnecasary.

So will the children of Waltham Forest be any safer or healthier? No of course not. The primary school children Clyde is so keen to protect are not allowed out at Lunchtimes anyway, but can still buy full fat ice cream from the van outside the school gates at hometime, or crisps and chocalate bars from the local shops.

Like children all over Britain their obesity risk has more to do with the fats in processed foods eaten at home, and maybe a lack of exercise than it does in sourcing illicit rice and peas from the Bamboo Joint. And considering the closed down restaurant is surrounded by Pizza Parlours, Burger joints and Fish and Chip Shops the Council's policy is pointless.

Furthermore it is damaging the reputation of Local Government, which should be there to educate and provide for local communities, before turning to it's regulatory powers and authority to penalise.

But this story is growing and growing, and so is the resistance. The local Afro Caribbean community are, as you would expect, outraged at this attack on their culture and on a fellow member of the community. They have campaigned outside the store as well as recording "You Tube" protest videos against the Council such as the one below. They also believe their community has been victimised and have wondered if the Council would have acted in the same heavy handed way if the shop was owned by MacDonald's or one of the other multi national chains? They describe our Clyde as an opportunist, who is out of touch with the community, and who could argue?

So what next? Well I for one will be making sure that every restaurant owner in Northampton knows exactly where Mr Loake's stands in respect of supporting local business, just in case he trys to promote his Barmy scheme here. And considering that Northampton has more Parks and Open Spaces than any other District Council area and that most of the restaurants and take aways on the town's arterial routes are within 400m of a local school or park then he will be a busy man.

But one last thought on this whole sorry affair, who gave the permission for seven police officers to be involved in this over the top reactionary farce in the first place? and was it a good use of their time? It reminds me of the time I got stopped at Chigao airport and searched and cautioned by the USA national fruit police for carrying an unlicenced apple!

Watch out Northampton, Big Brother has his eye on you, and no Balti Hut is safe.