Monday 26 April 2010

The Horror and Consequence of Crime

Today we learned that a family of murders have been sent to jail. One of them must serve 36 years. Others have been found guilty of familial homiciode, a relatively new crime. They were part of a family conspiracy but cannot claim innocence on the grounds that they did nothing in terms of assisting the crime of murder. This is no longer possible since a new law came into force to say that a family member who knew about or witnessed a murder by a family member must come forward and tell the police of what they know. In other words, if murder is carried out by a member of your family and you are aware of it, you are guilty of familial homicide.
It is good to know that this loophole has been plugged. However, it beggars belief that people will act in this way. A young and vulnerable adult ends up dead after being tortured and beaten systematically for his benefit money. But it beggars belief that a man can keep his daughter a prisoner so that he can have sex with her and she bear him children. The depths to which some people sink is something that we ordinary mortals cannot understand.
Too often, these days, we hear stories of the abuse of children and adults. It means, of course, that we can now appreciate what has been happening in secret for centuries in some cases. I remember hearing about 50 years ago a woman commenting on her son's engagement, "I don't know why he wants to get married. He gets what he wants here at home." One can only assume that behind the doors of some house some pretty awful deeds take place.
Once the criminals are brought to justice, sadly, any surviving victimes are scarred for life. They cannot simply "pick themselves up, dust themselves down, and start all over again." They then carry forward into life some very nasty baggage. These people must face a life of still being in fear of doors opening at night, adults carrying belts, bats and any assortment of weapons of torture. They have problems sleeping at night, no matter how settled a life they have.
I do not subscribe to the placing of the local authority in the pillory. The Social Services Departments of councils have a very difficult job to do. It is they who are considered responsible for not intervening in cases of child abuse. It is also they who are considered responsible for intervening in cases which turn out to be a mistake. In other words, they are damned if they don't and damned if they do.
During my career in local government I spent some time as a union activist and defending social workers when they were considered to be acting incorrectly. In know how often they have visited houses in fear of violence themselves because the residents have a history of attacking social workers. There was even one case where a female social worker had to accompany her male boss because the woman of the house would attack him if he went alone. Social workers visit homes to tell parents their children will be taken into care and sometimes do not know how the parents will react.
What society has become in 2010 is quite bizarre. Yet, in the past, there have been cases of crimes just as horrific. The nature was different but the level of horror much the same. It is little wonder that the number of people in jail is at an all time high. What to do about it is not something anyone can fathom. I just hope the level of nannying will go down. When teachers cannot separate fighting children because they can be counted guilty of assault themselves we have a serious problem.

Wednesday 7 April 2010

What difference will it make?


We are now in the earliest stages of a general Election. It is vitally important that we all cast our vote because it is something which has been won at great cost and over a long period.


However, when we look at what difference it will make if one party or another wins outright, it is difficult to say what difference the outcome will make.


Look at the National Health Service. At its inception it was heralded as health care for all, no matter who or what you are. Described like this it becomes the envy of the world. Like all great institutions it comes at a huge cost to the taxpayer. The patients who receive such a good service are often heard voicing their appreciation. Some do not because they find themselves living in the wrong area to get the treatment or service they need. I think that probably those who rub their hands together and bless the NHS most are the drug companies who work hard to rob the NHS as they sell them effective drugs. Much cash is spent on senior administrators who have the task of management and have to liaise with the medical staff each day. These are the ones who see only costs and lose sight of the patients who are the customers. Each political party points to their pet areas of the NHS and promise change & improvement. Yet each government finds it can never achieve its aim!


Then there is Education which is available to all and has benefitted countless members of the population. Ever since I can remember there have been so-called experts who have advocated new methods of educating children and adults alike. Every few years we hear how what was the latest thing has been condemned to the waste bin to be replaced by another latest thing. A few years later - guess what happens! Dead right!! No one has yet come up with a method that works as well as they say it will. On and on they go - tinkering away with an engine that works!


Local Government was once a target of the politicians and so they began cutting and chopping away at it. They didn't seem to learn from their mistakes either. I used to be a rating officer, then a poll tax officer, and finally a council tax officer. So I have personal experience of successive governments supposedly "improving" the way we are governed locally and charged for the service. The introduction of the Community Charge ended in disaster for Margaret Thatcher who was stupid enough to stick her neck out and change the basis for payment. It was quickly consigned to oblivion because what she did not realise was that it is easy to charge people based on where they live but well-nigh impossible to charge them as individuals if they managed to disappear!


So, the parties will all tell us why their policies are best and get us to place our ballot papers suitably inscribed to their benefit. But what real difference will it make? The current task is to get the country back onto an even keel in financial terms. Each method advanced will work to a degree, so does it matter which person lives in 10 Downing Street for the next 5 years? Some years ago I remember Lord Wilson (Harold Wilson) commenting that when he was prime minister 85% of the decisions would have been the same regardless of which party was in power. I doubt that this has changed a lot.


So, my advice is go out and vote, but don't expect to be positively affected by the winning party and their policies. This way you can only be pleasantly surprised if it goes your way!

Sunday 4 April 2010

The Pope and Responsibility


For some time now we have been hearing dreadful stories of abuse by priests of the Roman Catholic church. There can be no excuse for what has happened because it can only be described as a crime against humanity. But there appears to be a Vatican standpoint that says we have said sorry so now it is time to move forward and forget this terrible period in our history. From where I stand it is something that goes a great deal deeper. Many, many people have been abused and left scarred for life. They have suffered at the hands of those they were brought up to trust. If you cannot trust a priest it is difficult to know who you can trust. Back in January I was speaking to my friend Michael who is a catholic priest. One thing I was certain of is that it would help if catholic clergy were allowed to marry. The current problems are caused, only in part of course, by enforced celibacy. Take this requirement and some pressure would be removed, thus releasing some intended victims from abuse.

Look at the scene in Africa and note the incredibly high incidence of HIV/Aids. The Catholic church is working among people and showing immense Christian love whilst, at the same time, denying the faithful the means of avoiding illness. I refer to the insistence on condemning contraception. To continue in this way is to inflict pain and misery on thousands of people and their families. there are, of course, many ordained men of the Catholic faith who minister to people and do not force doctrine and dogma upon them. Thank God for such people.

The previous Pope was a great man who left his mark on Catholicism. Yet he was a traditionalist who saw to it in his lifetime that leaders were created who supported his views. This has effectively slowed down the change in the church to a very harmful pace. In other words John Paul 2 has made sure that progressive priests do not become Cardinals. He was a great Pope who burst out of the Vatican "prison" to visit his faithful all over the world. This was a progressive move, but the only one. His great friend and successor, Benedict, now, in some ways, mirrors the stranglehold Robert Mugabe has on Zimbabwe. Until he accepts radical change the Catholic world will continue to fester with its profound wounds. It is down to him.