The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, set up by Boris Johnson in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, concluded that there is no institutional racism. And it isn't even April the first yet.
In clarification Commission chairman Tony Sewell denied that the report said that there was no racism but he quibbled with the term "institutional".
Yet while black people account for 3% of the population, but 8% of deaths in police custody. Is that "institutional" enough for you, Sewell?
The pathetic defence offered for the killer of George Floyd is that Floyd would have died anyway. So just because like all humans, I am mortal, the police have the right to kill me?
Is murderer Derek Chauvin looking for a job in a hospice? There are plenty of people there who would have died anyway so why not asphyxiate them?
The defence upholds the racist nature of the state and a police force for whom black lives simply do not matter.
I have written to my MP about this Bill. You cannot be put in prison for doing that. Not yet.
Sir Peter believes that Oscar Romero should be a saint. What is clear is that Oscar Romero would be in prison under the terms of this draconian legislation.
You can judge for yourself whether this is a reply to the issues raised.
Dear Derek,
Thank you for your recent email regarding the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. We understand many have concerns over police powers in the wake of the arrests at the Sarah Everard vigil. I support the need for reasonable discussions over police powers to intervene at gatherings and protests that seriously contravene Covid safety restrictions.
The Government‘s first duty is to protect citizens and communities, keeping them safe so they can get on with their daily lives peacefully and without unnecessary interference. Ministers have stated that the measures in this Bill are directed to this.
Throughout the pandemic, police forces have been bound by legislation that limits large gatherings for any reason, subject to a few exceptions. Sadly, this has included most vigils and remembrance services.
It is disappointing that at the Sarah Everard vigil this situation escalated to the point where arrests were made.
Conflicting information about the event means it is difficult for any of us to get a full understanding of the circumstances around the unrest.
The article in the Times from the photographer who took one of the now iconic photos, Jack Hill, provides what I believe is a fair, even-handed analysis of events. In the article, Jack Hill explains that throughout the day, people passing by on their daily exercise were paying respects and laying flowers.
Then “As the afternoon turned to evening the solemn atmosphere changed. Different groups had arrived and one of the anti-lockdown/vaxxers tried to highjack the event by addressing the assembled crowd. It was not long before the police, who had maintained a respectful distance on the periphery, pushed their way into the centre of the bandstand in an attempt to shut it down.”
The unrest at the vigil has been highly publicised. Many across the political spectrum have provided views on appropriate ways to deal with large gatherings and political protests, both for situations where Covid-type measures are required to deal with the public health emergency, and in more normal times.
Many believe that legislative moves seeking to add further controls on the make-up and nature of protests could further impact our freedoms. The changes in this Bill relating to protests are not about restricting the right to peaceful protest.
They are to ensure the crucial balance between the fundamental right to peaceful protest and the rights of people to get on with their daily lives.
We have seen examples in the past of Right-wing groups or Extinction Rebellion protestors causing widespread damage and disruption across British cities.
The Government has stated that the additional powers in the Bill will allow the police safely to manage protests where they threaten public order and impact on people getting on with their own lives.
Ministers state that the objective is to improve the powers required to balance the right to peaceful protest and the rights of people to maintain their day-to-day activities.
There is a plurality of views on this issue. Recent events have made the situation more charged. We can all welcome further discussions as the Bill is brought before House of Commons and the House of Lords through the different stages of the legislative process.
Yours sincerely,
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Sir Peter Bottomley Father of the House Email: BottomleyP@Parliament.uk Tel: 0207 219 5060 / 0783132 3333” |
Subject: Letter from your constituent Derek McMillan
Thursday 25 March 2021
Dear Peter Bottomley,
The new "Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021" is designed,
in the words of Cressida Dick, "specifically to deal with protests
where people are not primarily violent or seriously disorderly." It is
a massive increase in the powers of the police to suppress freedom of
speech.
It is not just an attack on Black Lives Matter and Extinction
Rebellion. As it stands it would prohibit any legitimate protest by any
trade union. If anyone protests against the Bill, they will be on the
receiving end of draconian penalties.
Would Oscar Romero have found himself in prison under this bill?
All the best
Derek McMillan
Boris Johnson is a result of capitalism and greed. The vaccine is not.
Confidence in the vaccine is undermined when politicians try to take credit for it or to say that the ruling ideology of the Conservative Party (Capitalism and Greed) is responsible.
The rollout of the vaccine is a victory for the NHS. The NHS was brought in with the votes of trade-union sponsored MPs while the Tories voted against it.
I got this as a very welcome raffle prize from West Sussex Writers.
This is an unusual book. It is written from a number of points of view.
It is very dark even for a murder story. The writer hints at
ghosts, possession and superstitions while the events of the book are
all real. The island has a distinct personality and nobody can shake
the atmosphere of menace enhanced by the stormy weather.
There is an element of coincidence in the characters collected on this
remote island but this is not unusual in a whodunnit. The setting where
even the mobile phone signal and the electricity supply is patchy is
ideal for a murder mystery.
The denouement is very satisfying but you will get no spoilers from me!
The new "Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021" is not just an attack on Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion. As it stands it would prohibit any legitimate protest by any trade union.
Sir Keir Starmer had to be persuaded to oppose the new draconian police powers.
One MP did not have such qualms. This is what Richard Burgon MP said -
"Under this Government’s plans, protests will still be allowed, just as long as the police say so, just as long as the protests are not too noisy, just as long as they do not cause too much of a nuisance, just as long as they do not seriously annoy anyone, and just as long as they are not too near Parliament. So protests can go ahead, just as long as they do not do what protests are meant to do. And those who do not abide by the new rules could get 10 years in prison—longer than the sentences most men convicted of rape ever get."
The government 'hard-hitting' "Look them in the eyes" advertising campaign was designed to shift the blame from the government to the public. Any future disasters in the pandemic and "it's all your fault, definitely not Matt Hancock and his merry men."
Resisting Covid austerity at the ballot box - first TUSC candidates in place for May's polls
The February 24th meeting was the first steering committee since the TUSC zoom conference on February 7th, attended by over 500 people. It also finalised the TUSC core policy platform for the local elections in May, which can be found at https://www.tusc.org.uk/policy - alongside the Scottish TUSC manifesto for the parliamentary contest in Scotland and the TUSC Wales Senedd election platform.
The first set of candidates for May include an executive council member of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which is currently undergoing a members' consultation about whether they want to remain affiliated to the Labour Party, and two members of the UNISON Local Government Service Group Executive, out of a total of 19 UNISON members on the list.
The full story is here
Can anyone look at the events of the Sarah Everard Vigil and conclude that the police need more powers? Apparently the government do. Yet the police have beaten up participants in peaceful assemblies since the 1960s to my personal knowledge and I suspect it has been going on much longer.
They don't need extra powers.
It is rumoured that Labour will start acting like an opposition over these draconian measures. It would make a change.
John McDonnell tweeted "Labour now voting against the Tories’ Police and Crime Bill. Thank you to all those who have forced this u turn. We now need the Tories to withdraw this Bill and tell Johnson & Priti Patel that this is no time to play petty party politics with our civil liberties & our security."
Some things become more relevant with the passage of time.
This is from 1977:
The Sex Pistols. God Save the Queen
God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
God save the queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming
Don't be told what you want to want to
And don't be told what you want to need
There's no future, no future
No future for you.
The prize for the most disingenuous mendacity goes as usual to Matt Hancock whose argument was that "other public sector workers have a pay freeze." This pay freeze is not an act of God, Matt old chap, it is yet another piece of Tory penny-pinching. Two wrongs do not make a right.
We can rely on NSSN to support health workers, the rank and file are solid, some of the trade union leaders need a wake-up call.
The right wing press has been full of criticisms of Meghan Markle after her revelation of racism in Buckingham Palace.
The Daily Mail protest that their vicious attacks on Meghan Markle have nothing to do with racism. They are forgetting their own history and their most famous headline "Hurrah for the Blackshirts". They do not have impeccable anti-racist credentials. To this day they repeatedly portray asylum seekers as a threat to Britain.
Racism from the Royals is nothing new.
Prince Philip has a long record of racist jokes, talking about "slitty eyed" Chinese and "workshy" Indians; complaining that Caribbean music can make you deaf and all Scots are drunkards. And these are only his comments in public.
The Queen and Prince Philip have been exonerated by the media but the repeated jibes about Meghan Markle's race came from somewhere in the palace and it is not likely that a minion would have been making such remarks without instructions to do so.
The BBC is either being naive or disingenuous in saying the Palace has been "silent". Thousands of pages of venom including a two-year-old allegation of bullying are coming from somewhere and it is unlikely they dropped from the sky.
The attack on Meghan Markle is being used as a means of stirring up race hatred. The fate of the ex-royals is not a matter of concern to Socialists. The racist "dog whistle" outpourings of the media are.
This is where to go
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/helpline2
I found I didn't have a timetable. I had frequent room changes so I didn't know where I was supposed to be teaching.
I went to the office and explained .
“Mr McMillan, you don't have a timetable?”
“Yes.”
“Well if you don't have one, we certainly can't give you one.”
“I beg your...”
“Good day, Mr McMillan.”
And the door was closed.
I thought I might have
a class in H block so I wandered the corridors and opened doors to
try and find who I was supposed to be teaching. My pulse was rising and I was in a state of panic.
Then I woke up with the thought; I have retired from teaching for nine years. Why am I still having dreams like this?
And that is why you need a union!
