Hmm. This’ll rather put the cat amongst the pigeons, won’t it?
Britain’s prison officers have called an illegal, immediate strike in a dispute over pay and the threat of violence at work.
Can’t use the Army to fill in, they’re all fighting, can’t use the police, paperwork is much too important. What are the other alternatives? Giving in?
“What are the other alternatives?”
Let the prisoners fight to the death, Gladiator-stylee.
Once the POs return to work, less overcrowding to deal with.
only semi-relevant, but damn, that Norman Brennan (of the made-up Victims of Crime Trust) is an ignorant rentaquote arsehole…
And what exactly did he say then….?
“Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: “The government should not have let it come to this.” Can’t argue there. Surely a Labour Government would want to institute negotiations, rather than drive members to illegal strike action?
“The number of prisons and staff have not increased in line with the number of prisoners and the system is in meltdown.” Undoubtedly true, especially if the Government are going to spend so much time creating new crimes…
“If police are drafted in, who will look after the general public?” Fair point, though I’d argue they aren’t doing so well at that, lately…
“There will be an explosion in crime.” Aha, this must be the point that chaps ‘john b’ so – we already have an explosion of crime, after all…
And in what way are they ‘the made-up Victims of Crime Trust’ …?
Are we supposed to infer from that that this organisation doesn’t exist?
They are a registered charity – their number is Reg. Charity No 1032867.
It’s always amusing to watch right-wing types siding with the strikers rather than management… but anyway:
Having spent several months recently working on various issues to do with the English prison system, it’s pretty clear that while there are some problems, the system is a long way from ‘in meltdown’. And the idea that crims will have a big crime party if some cops are drafted in to maintain order is nutty – it assumes their behaviour is determined by rational analysis, rather than stupidity, drug addiction and status-seeking.
Re your second point – VTC hasn’t filed any accounts since 2003 (from Charities Commission website, again highlighting its dubious nature), but its last recorded annual income was £80k. That puts it on the level of donkey sanctuary or comedy lobby group, whereas Brennan positions VCT as a serious charity along the lines of Victim Support (and newspapers are happy to acquiesce in that fiction, because they like being able to pretend that a buffoon’s saloon-bar quotes come from a serious voluntary sector organisation).
“It’s always amusing to watch right-wing types siding with the strikers rather than management…”
Where exactly did I do that…? Oh, you thought Surely a Labour Government would want to institute negotiations, rather than drive members to illegal strike action?
was a serious comment. Damn, forgot the sarcasm tags again…!
“That puts it on the level of donkey sanctuary or comedy lobby group, whereas Brennan positions VCT as a serious charity…”
Nice slur on animal charities there, in your feeble attempts to discredit an organisation you dislike. It’s always amusing to watch left-wing types throwing selected victim-groups under the bus when more deserving groups (criminals, etc) come along 😉
“…VTC hasn’t filed any accounts since 2003 (from Charities Commission website, again highlighting its dubious nature)…”
Dubious nature, eh? Hmm, reminds me of …something…aha!:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariam_Appeal
Not a bad analogy: Galloway, like Brennan, is a dishonest, mendacious waste of space defended only by people whose ideological blinkers overcome any inclination towards intellectual honesty.
I was with you there…..apart from the ‘like Brennan’.
Unlike Galloway, Norman Brennan actually has first-hand knowledge of his subject. He was a policeman for 25 years. If he was singing from the ‘let’s hug criminals and condemn societal attitudes to them’ hymnsheet, you’d be lauding him to the heavens.
Because he isn’t, you regard him as a ‘dishonest, mendacious waste of space’.
Now, what were you saying about ‘people whose ideological blinkers overcome any inclination towards intellectual honesty’….?
Brennan is an ex-Pc (i.e. never-promoted) and crank who gets media attention by posing as a charitable organisation to help victims of crime, despite *actually* just providing hang-’em-‘n’-flog-’em press quotes to the right-wing press.
I’d pay about as much attention to him as I’d pay to an ex-cleaner at the BBC and crank who formed a ‘think tank for media reform’, but then failed to actually do anything beyond regularly appearing in the right-wing press to say the Beeb should be abolished.
(or have its funding doubled, or be put in charge of satellite TV, or any other unworkable crank scheme of your choice from the left or the right)
“….gets media attention by posing as a charitable organisation ..”
How is he ‘posing’, being a spokesman registered charity? Apart from the accounts part, ofc. I’m sure it’s not the only charity to be remiss in doing the paperwork.
If you have your doubts, feel free to report him to the Commission, rather than whining about it on blogs.
“I’d pay about as much attention to him as I’d pay to an ex-cleaner at the BBC and crank … failed to actually do anything beyond regularly appearing in the right-wing press to say the Beeb should be abolished.”
My, it really chaps you that victims of crime have any kinfd of voice, doesn’t it..? They should just shut up and let their betters deal with things……by providing help to criminals instead.
Julia can you epxlain why you believe mentioning George Galloway’s charity somehow negates critism of someone else’s?
“…can you epxlain why you believe mentioning George Galloway’s charity somehow negates critism of someone else’s?”
Oh, I don’t. I know that a lot of left-wingers throw in their lot with Galloway though, and the open goal presented by ‘john b’ there was just too good to miss 😉
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