Introducing Police Bloggers

If you’ve not been living in a cave, you will be aware of the noises the British political elites have been making, aimed in the direction of bloggers. Happily tapping on my keyboard here in Prague, I feel as if I am well out of the firing range of the British government, but there are groups of bloggers who our authoritarian government really do appear to have in their sights. I’m talking in particular about public sector bloggers and especially police bloggers. If you think I’m exaggerating, take a look at this. Anyone who reads this blog will be aware law and order is a key interest of mine – it’s certainly of paramount importance to the electorate.

So I’ve decided to clear a section of my links bar for Police Bloggers. Unlike my other links sections which I have arranged in alphabetical order, I’ve decided to order these blogs in order of preference. Here’s my first top 5 with their own description in italics and my synopsis underneath.

1. Copper’s Blog

A Journey into the mad, mad world of the British underclass and the Public sector, where nothing is too insane for it to be written down and copied in triplicate. VIEWS EXPRESSED PROBABLY DON'T REFLECT OFFICIAL POLICY. "This blog will do more to put people off calling the police than anything, other than actually calling the police."

A proper blogger. Similar number of comments on his posts as Iain Dale. Your first stop for what’s really happening in the British police service.

2. Police Inspector Blog

You couldn’t make this up.

Classy. Well written and regular posts with a helicopter view. Also, links across the public services. A great resource.

3. PC South West

A Police officer who is being prevented from doing his job effectively by Political obstruction and home office bureaucracy. I hope to expose the shortfalls in the modern Police service that have been created by senior officers who have climbed into bed with the Politicians in order to further their own careers or future.

Doesn’t beat around the bush. Shining the light on the reality of modern day policing or lack of it.

4. Midlands PC

My ramblings on policing in the Midlands. Nothing herein is force policy blah blah blah. Although force policy changes so often, it might well be policy next week. Time to change our policies policy. Or something.

Posts are not that frequent, but tackle the topic in depth. Very interesting.

5. PC Bloggs

The police: upholding the law, protecting the weak and innocent, bringing the guilty to justice... or just a chaotic bunch of nincompoops? This blog makes no attempt to decide, but read on and maybe you can. The material in this blog in no way reflects official policy or opinion of any police force, it does however represent the official opinion of one very hacked off policewoman. Yes, I did say WOMAN.

Direct stuff. Opines on a range of subjects. More personal than some of the above.

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Well – that’s my starter for ten. Please share your thoughts on these and other police bloggers.

Important Update

As if to prove my point about those in authority, PC South West is considering whether to hang up his keyboard because of political concerns. Please visit his blog and provide a bit of support.

Equality Of Opportunity Or Equality Of Outcome Or Neither?

Equality of representation is big political news from A lists to All Women Shortlists. Croydonian and I decided to have a look at diversity tartan-style to see what we could learn.

The population of Scotland is expected to fall below 5 million, soon. 400,000 nearly 10% of the population are English-born. Recently, Gordon Brown lectured the Scottish Labour Party conference on how the economic futures of Scotland and the rest of the UK are inextricably linked. Before you nod off, what about the political futures?

How much of a say are English having in Scottish political affairs and vice-versa? Of 59 Scottish seats at Westminster, only two are held by English-born MPs schooled outside of Scotland. In both these cases (Malcolm Bruce and Mark Lazarawicz) they went to university north of the border.

What about where I'm from - Birmingham? Of the eleven MPs in Birmingham, just four were born in the West Midlands. That wouldn't happen in Scotland would it? The same number were born outside England including Labour MP, Scottish born and educated Steve McCabe. What are his links with Birmingham Hall Green, dare I ask? The proportion of Scots in the English population is much lower than the the proportion of Engish living in Scotland so I have to ask whether there is genuine equality of opportunity for English politicians. The Croydonian has also done some excellent research in his London backyard highlighting the similarly disproportionate representation of Scots in the capital. Time for some diversity training, I think?

No More Talk Of Slavery

With some people, it's pointless arguing. If you want to get into boring arguments about self-flagellating apologising for slavery, type slavery in the search all blogs box and take your pick.Here is a good one. I didn't open this Pandora's box - Blair did, with his expression of "deep sorrow". Another notable instance where he expressed "deep sorrow" was in the case of Dr David Kelly. It wasn't an admission of guilt then, and it isn't now. I have to say I enjoyed the following statement which provided yet another valid reason for the UK not to apologise, now.

"Blair's article is taking a backward step from Britain's official position in 1807 when it abolished the trade and expressed regret for what had happened," said Kofi Mawuli Klu of rights group Rendezvous of Victory.

You mean, we already apologised. Anyway, I'm going to try to be positive. Rather than identifying points of difference, can I ask what issues represent common ground that Brits regardless of race can agree upon?

Darfur

Please watch this, the most recent Darfur video and check out WebCameron for related stuff. Some facts to ponder on.

- There are 2 million displaced people in Sudan due to this government-backed ethnic cleansing
- There are just 5000 African Union troops policing an area the size of France

I put it as strongly as this - the West's failure to act in Darfur makes it almost immoral to support their other ventures. Hotel Rwanda is one of my favourite films. Groundhog Day isn't - a combination of both is unfolding.

Czech Young Conservatives

The following short article by yours truly is on Czech Young Conservatives is on Conservative Home today.

"The dominant party on the right of Czech politics is the ODS. In July 2006 the ODS leader Mirek Topolanek agreed to tie up with the Conservative Party to form a new reform grouping in the European Parliament in 2009. The ODS is by reputation the party of the cities and the educated middle classes, but is also the largest party in terms of overall support. Margaret Thatcher is a great heroine to most ODS activists and politicians who are in the round fairly Euro-sceptic. Only last week, ODS member President Klaus described himself as “deeply frustrated with the EU”.

The young conservative wing of ODS is called Mladi Konzervativci and was established in 1991. Its members number 500 across 35 branches. In a country of nine million these are hardly stratospheric numbers, but I am told they are growing. It is estimated the membership is 80% male. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of members are either at high school or university.

Nevertheless, the recent story of ODS’s youth wing is not without its controversy. One activist described how, from his perspective, his interest in discussing policies and attending conferences placed him within a minority amongst the membership. Rather than being a radical and challenging voice, it is felt by some that the movement is controlled to some extent by party loyalists establishing a pliant political power base. Recently a maverick branch of Young ODS based in Prague was disbanded by the leadership in a storm of acrimony. These youngsters, some of whom I was introduced to at the “Czech & Slovak Right-Wing Weekend Conference” still remain active in politics, but are not affiliated to their natural party following these clashes.

It’s a personal view but based on my reading of the attitudes and values of young Czechs, there is a bright future for the right. However, this must be set against the overall political landscape. Since the heady days when democracy was restored following the fall of Communism, Czech voters express a growing political cynicism as evidenced by falling voter turnouts. One can’t help but feel that the young are particularly likely to feel powerless and disengaged in this climate. What will be fascinating to watch is whether the type of free-thinking and radical debate traditionally associated with youth can occur within the existing party organizations or whether other levers will be used by the young to have their voices heard."

Tabloid Power

I do not profess to be an expert on child protection or managing sex offenders, but when the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on these matters speaks out I'm listening. In today's Sunday Times he suggests that sex offenders who prey on pubescent under 16s should be treated differently to those preying on pre-pubescents/ This view chimes - it seems crazy that this isn't already the case. But I found this the most worrying quote ;

"The last three years has been a litany of abandonment of any real strategic design in the Home Office for the management of sex offenders in favour of trying to find out what one particular tabloid newspaper wants,"

I've said it before and I'll say it again as long as I see it from this shower. Across the board, NuLabour's agenda is determined by the tabloids - even on these most sensitive issues. Marked by incompetence in delivery, under Labour we are repeatedly served up with a damaging cocktail of right-wing rhetoric coupled with left-wing implementation.

Casino Royale - Cultural Observations

Saw Casino Royale in a packed cinema studio this week and thought I would share a few random thoughts with my readers. Firstly, I found myself glancing at my watch for the last third of the film. I think I could have left after 90 minutes quite happily.

Secondly, I'd like to say that the world's newest state of Montenegro came out of the film smelling of roses. In the film, I noted the most picturesque spots in the beautiful historic Bohemian towns of Cesky Krumlov and Karlovy Vary were depicted as Montenegro. I have attached pics of these towns that were taken from very similar spots to some in the film including at the bottom of the post the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary which was used for the hotel scenes and is one of the venues used at the wonderful Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Whilst I would love to visit this new and tiny state, initial browsing of Montenegro doesn't indicate it would be easy to locate similarly opulent surroundings as those depicted in Casino Royale.

The final point of interest is what got the laughs. As some of the audience were howling with laughter at some of the pre-film ads, it's fair to suggest that the theatre was packing an uncharacteristically bubbly Prague crowd. In the first scene of the movie - shot in a film noir style - we were introduced to an office in Prague, Czech Republic which received a ripple of sardonic laughter. The silhouette from the Prague office was a high-rise skyline which is certainly not the Prague of today. Ho hum.

An early line that raised the roof was when Judi Dench said talking about 007 embarassing the service "in the past, he would have had the good sense to defect - Christ I miss the Cold War". I wander if that got the same reaction in the West.

And the bit that got the biggest laugh was when Bond said Guten Tag to the fat German tourists whose car he had just totalled - the Czechs loved that.

Personally, I liked the humanity and fallibility of James Craig's Bond, but I don't think this film will go down as a all-time great, mainly because it dragged. Maybe the next one?

Velvet Revolution

Velvet as in bloodless and revolution as in.. oh forget it.

Friday was a National Holiday in Czech to commemorate the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Prague. I feel a bit weird banging on about it, now, though. There is a great risk of sounding patronising, as Madonna did when she recently played a gig here and told the audience how great it was that they were (finally) free. Czech today has a booming economy with 7% GDP growth pa and Prague has an unemployment rate well below 3%. In a recent survey, just 15% of Czechs said life was easier under Communism.

Of course the other most notable date in post-Communist times was in 1993 when Czechoslovakia became Czech and Slovakia. This was known as the Velvet Divorce. In an innovative move the leading commercial TV stations in Czech and Slovakia had an inaugural "Test The Nations" quiz show on tonight. As with the UK version, a variety of groups are represented, police, teachers, school caretakers, "manual workers" and blondes, but from both nations. Slovakia edged it and the teachers did the best of all the professions. I suspect the ratings will be high in both countries for this unique show.

Milton Friedman RIP

Legendary economist Milton Friedman died aged 94 today. I have a great deal of respect for his free thinking and fearless challenge to the orthodox view.

Milton was born in Brooklyn and died in San Francisco. He is survived by his wife and two children. A nice round-up of the tributes here

Best quotes

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem" and one for Iain Dale

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government".

The Others

An interesting discussion developed at Iain Dale's place the other day following this post. In a nutshell, there was widespread condemnation of the lack of differentiation between the three mainstream parties and many predictions of further rises in the number of people voting for "other parties". So, here's the figures for other parties excluding NI in recent elections.

1992 - 436,207 VOTES 1.3% of the overall vote
1997 - 1,361,701 VOTES 4.3% (mainly the REFERENDUM PARTY)
2001 - 1,000,223 VOTES 3.9%
2005 - 1,519,372 VOTES 5.6%
2009 - ???

Source - British Political Facts Since 1979 Butler & Butler
NB - the number of typos in Butlers' election tables was beyond embarassing - e.g UKIP had 491 MPs elected in 2005 according to them.

Predictions for 2009? and is this trend a result of the increasing focus of the mainstream parties on the marginals/floating voters or are there other factors at play?