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.

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!

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.

British Airways Strike 2

In addition to previous comments I have made I now realise how deceptive the airline are being about he strike's success or lack of it.

They are telling everyone how the percentage of flights still leaving is high. What the observer is not being told directly is that BA are spending huge amounts drafting in extra aircraft hired from an airline that specialises in hire support. These aircraft (all but one are Boeings and old ones at that) are taking off nearly empty. This is how you can say you have a high percentage of flights still leaving. What you cannot say is that there is a high percentage of passengers aboard them because there is not!

BA have been desperate to save money and get back in the black. Attempting to break this strike by hiring in aircraft complete with pilots and cabin crew is financial lunacy. The longer this situation continues unresolved the worse it will be for this supposed "great company". The whole object BA had for reducing staffing levels was to save cash and this method will take them the wrong way.

The attitude of Willie Walsh in divesting the strikers of their perks which appear to be extremely low costs flights all over the world is peevish and childish. Mind you, there never was a case for such a giveaway perk in the first place! It is little wonder they have cash flow difficulties. Some time back, in order to save money, Willie Walsh and other top earners said they would work free of pay for a month and asked other staff to join them. This was a classic case of the rich man calling on his servants to share nothing whilst he waits to enjoy plenty later! What a nutter!

British Airways Strike

Not surprisingly, the Tories are trying to take advantage of their Labour enemies by saying the strike is weakening the government prior to an election. Had they been in power the position would not have been different. The issue surrounding this industrial action is historic and could have arisen at any time. The issue is that British Airways has, for many years, been a bullying employer. The pressure has now blown and we have strife. As a former branch secretary of a union (now in retirement) I can still spot a bad employer from a mile away.

Good relations between employers and their workforce always keep strife at bay. At the negotiating table no employer worth their salt tries to force a trade union into a corner or to wipe the floor in those negotiations. The only good outcome is one where there is something gained by both sides. Those who teach industrial relations are not cloistered academics with no view of the real world. They know the value of creating and maintaining good employer/employee relations. Their students are advised that this is the only way that produces true settlements.

As for Willie Walsh defending himself by saying his company have been negotiating for months and he personally has spent time at the TUC in talks, this is just a smoke screen. There is no justification in entering talks and steadily offering packages which are less than the previous offer. This shows the madness of what he is trying to do.

Going back to the days of Lord King, British Airways have sucked the life out of cabin crew workers in their airline. They have put profits first and last on their agenda and raised two fingers to their staff. Walsh has now removed the perks from those who have gone on strike this time. This will be remembered for a long time and the sourness will not go away. There will be a dichotomy between strikers and those who have worked through the action that will see bitterness for years to come. No good company needs this background to daily activity in the workplace.

There will be discomfort between cabin crew which will give rise to further strife in the future. The stupid thing, of course, is that this will have an effect on profits which Walsh and co are desperate to preserve.

In other words, this is a no-win scenario, and that is bad for all. Things will get worse and worse in a financial climate where airlines are struggling. The competitors will be rubbing their hands together and relishing the future as they go head to head with British Airways.

Willie, you are suicidal!

ITV is down the tube!

Over the years I have been an ITV viewer less and less. In recent days they have axed the programmes that are worth watching. The final two nails in their coffin are "Kingdom" and "The Bill".

Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom brought the most wonderful "feel good" feeling to viewers and his young assistant provided the freshest comedy I have seen in a long time. Hermione Norris acted out the most amazing comedy depressant whilst Tony Slattery made the brain spin with his multitude of legal challenges that actually won through. Celia Imrie was just lovely as she and her son filled equally interesting and entertaining roles. CHOP!!!

Today came the final insult to intelligent viewers. The Bill is to go in the autumn. This is a programme that has provided an amazing variety of scenarios over a long period. We have grown to almost become family to both characters and actors involved in this first rate programme. We have lived and died with its many twists and turns. ITV has now succumbed to the appetite of the brain dead with programme after programme of reality disinterest. I simply ask the world of TV to seriously considering buying the programme "The Bill" and running with it for many years more. It will be watched! As for the rest of the soaps and reality dung let the brain dead watch ITV. Not me!!!