MURDER COMES TO SIDCUP. Another young man, who just happened to be an actor in the latest Harry Potter film, has had his life and a promising future snuffed out in a moment of madness and the flash of a knife blade. And inevitably much discussion has followed as to how society can combat this rising type of crime, which now seems a daily occurrence.
Imagine my frustration, when like so many others I am convinced that only one thing is going to curb this horrendous trend and the indiscriminate taking of lives. THE RETURN OF HARD LABOUR, CORPORAL AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Anything less is just playing into the hands of the unscrupulous thugs who at the moment have the power to ignore all normal decent rules of civilisation and they should have absolutely no right to remain living themselves. My own small protest is to withdraw my vote in general elections until Members of Parliament have the courage to use their position to protect all decent people by pressing for realistic sentences and a change in the law. They have a clear duty to send out the message that this situation will no longer be tolerated and that murdering scum will no longer have the right to continue living among the rest of us.
I’m quite clear in my mind about this - how about you?
Photo: Kent Photonews Sidcup.
FORMER COUNCIL LEADER Ian Clement, is to be congratulated for costing the borough an untimely by-election, by accepting a more lucrative position as deputy London mayor. He has certainly left his mark in Bexley, with his cut backs on essential services and increased charges elsewhere and his successor will be installed in his expensively-refurbished grand office. Perhaps we should put a plaque up in his honour!
BACK IN 1945 when the people of Europe were rejoicing in conquering the Nazi regime, they couldn’t possibly have known that in the new Millennium we would be controlled by un-elected descendants of the Third Reich. When Edward Heath signed us up to the Treaty of Rome, he had but one single passion. Having witnessed war first-hand as an army officer during world war II, he vowed that never again would Europeans fight against each other and only a united Europe would guarantee peace in the future.
On the domestic front, nothing has concentrated the minds of the people as much as the latest rules on recycling and rubbish collection. These rules, or ‘Directives’ as they are known, were drawn up by a group of academics from the Dresden University of Technology, to be enshrined in European Directive 75/442/EEC. We may never know the names of these esteemed academics and certainly will not have voted for them, but they have been immensely influential in the way they have caused so much friction and hostility between householders and their local authorities.
Whole councils have been replaced at local elections, in the misconception that a different ruling party will be less draconian in its implementation of these rules. The reality of course is that nothing changes, because councils must do exactly what central government tells them. Any pretence that local democracy works is therefore utter nonsense, because whatever political colour your council is - it must take its orders from Westminster, which in turn has to obey Brussels. And Brussels takes its instructions from German academics. So dear reader, the circle is completed and the euphoria greeting victory over Germany in 1945 was a mere delusion.
ANOTHER - YES ANOTHER child dies in squalid circumstances, having been starved, along with her siblings. The usual inquiry has been set up and I can predict the outcome will be the now over-used cliché - “lessons will be learned.”
Well I’m sorry - but lessons are NEVER learned from these sad cases and until there is a major change in the mindset of the authorities, they never will be. It seems to me that because of red tape and the excuse about protecting people’s human rights, the social services, police, schools and hospitals are not sufficiently robust in investigating such cases. In this instance, the children had not attended school for a number of weeks. Was it beyond the wit and wisdom of teachers or neighbours to visit their home and knock on the door? Or if they felt this was beyond their remit, to alert the police who should insist on inspecting their home and satisfying themselves that the children were safe and in good health.
The world of social workers, teachers and the police is rife with ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘not taking matters into their own hands,’ for fear of overstepping their authority. Well I say to hell with this, when it comes to the matter of a child in danger. The safety and welfare of vulnerable children must be paramount and if this means bending or breaking the rules, then so be it. If I became aware of a child being at risk, I would not hesitate to take the law into my own hands if the authorities had failed to do so and would not give a second thought to the consequences of my actions.
So come on you intelligent teachers, you big tough policemen, you timid social workers; and you nosey neighbours have the courage to bypass the rules and ignore your superiors when you have good reason to suppose there is a real possibility of another child becoming a dead body and yet another statistic. You may not get a medal, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you have saved a child’s life. What greater reward can there possibly be? And the rest of us will believe that lessons have definitely been learned at last.
TRUE TO THE THEME of this column: “You Wouldn’t Believe It,” The Royal Navy generously supplied a ship and two helicopters for a publicity stunt to launch the new James Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks. Whilst all this was going on in the Pool of London, just across the Channel several British yachts were being ‘detained’ quite illegally by excitable French fishermen protesting against high fuel charges. There was no escape for the unfortunate crews of these vessels because steel cables had been laid to trap them.
So why didn’t the Royal Navy deploy the ship and two helicopters being used to promote the private publishing enterprise in London, to advance on the French pirates and show them we will not tolerate this unruly behaviour against British citizens, with a warning shot across their bows? Or can we only expect such action when TV and film cameras and 007 are in attendance!
THERE MAY BE some overriding political reason why British Prime Ministers don’t attend the funerals of our brave heroes killed in battle, although I fail to appreciate why? This convention obviously doesn’t extend to commiserating with the ‘heroic’ over-paid, over-indulged, over-promoted soccer player who rather uselessly failed to find the net in Moscow. Gordon Brown is said to have written a letter of condolence to console this failed footballer, who when the final whistle blew, at least still had his life and all his limbs intact, ready to do combat on the pitch and in the nightclubs once more.
Which is more than can be said for the many hundreds of victims of the wars being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, that neither they or the majority of the public want, yet are sworn to do their duty on behalf of an ungrateful government. This disgraceful government and its ministers clearly value an inept football player higher than the young servicemen and women who have laid down their lives for them. I feel ashamed on their behalf.
THE CAN OF WORMS has now been fully opened, despite the Speaker’s disgraceful attempt to keep the lid tightly closed. Even cynics like me were surprised by some of the expenses claimed by our loyal Members of Parliament. I must say, as a taxpayer I was shocked to learn that I was contributing to Gordon Brown’s television licence and his annual subscription to Sky Sports and Movie channels. Also that I had helped the Blair’s purchase a brand new kitchen, complete with Aga cooker and dishwasher. I hope they included a trough in the fittings in which to dip their greedy snouts.
Then we learn of Margaret Beckett’s claim to make us pay for her plant pots and garden plants and that we also pay to have Barbara Follett’s windows cleaned - even though she is married to a millionaire author. These are but a tiny few examples of how we are being ripped off by those we elect to look after our interests, but who in practice are looking after themselves first and foremost. And their only defence is to remind us that their avarice is within the rules, which allows them to rob us rotten. Not for them the effects of the ‘credit crunch’ that is now crippling their constituents. And no change of government will make an atom of difference, because these ‘rules’ apply right across the political spectrum, which is why you won’t hear much dissent from the opposition benches.
The whole system is designed in favour of legalised theft and it’s high time the ‘rules’ were changed.
BILL ODDIE is one of those irritating people who make me cringe, whenever I see him on the excellent ‘Spring Watch’ or whatever ‘Watch’ it happens to be. He twitters away like a demented blackbird and is clearly besotted with his on-screen partner Kate Humble. His boyish enthusiasm for the natural world is irrepressible and she deserves some praise for her brave attempts to get an occasional word in.
Anyone who puts themselves up before the public is fair game and provided it doesn’t get too personal and libellous, healthy criticism is to be expected. Indeed, it can actually be useful in helping performers gauge their careers. Yet the BBC has closed its website to any further adverse comments about the somewhat odd Mister Oddie, because they say this has gone too far.
I believe they are wrong to do this and it goes against the spirit of public broadcasting and freedom of expression. Bill Oddie has a large following from his time as a ‘Goodie’ where his silliness was employed to good use, so I don’t think he needs the protection of the Big Brother Corporation.
THE COMPENSATION CULTURE is now well and truly established here in Britain. And it’s being helped along by advertisements on commercial radio stations describing ‘an accident waiting to happen.’ This firm of solicitors positively salivates at the idea of listeners slipping on wet floors, tripping over obstacles and having their vehicles damaged by ‘white van man.’ Their ‘no win - no fee’ offer will obviously be an attraction for the accident prone, or those who see compensation as an alternative means of obtaining money without working. Personally I think this advertisement should be banned for inciting the work-shy and is every bit as anti-social as those promoting strong drink and mobile telephones..
PRINCE WILLIAM’S wardrobe must be at bursting point as he collects yet another uniform (Naval Sub-Lieutenant’s) to join those from the Army and the Air Force. He is living the dream of sampling all the goodies in the sweetshop whilst being under no pressure to sign-up to a long service contract, or being posted to a hell-hole in some God-forsaken part of our unstable world.
I don’t criticize him for this, in fact I very much envy him that I never had the same opportunity at his age. Although he may occasionally wake abruptly from a nightmare, not knowing whether he is ‘going over the top,’ ‘baling-out of a blazing aircraft,’ or ‘abandoning a sinking ship.’ His situation reminds me of that TV show where celebrities act out their fantasies by appearing as their favourite entertainers.
“And who are you going to be this week William - a Knight of the Garter?”
THE HEALTH MINISTER is obsessed with stamping-out smoking among the young. In my schooldays, this could have been achieved by demolishing school bike sheds.