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CHANGE! Now that John Beck has retired, we have appointed an Office
Manager in the Branch Office at Epsom. As it happens, the person that we
appointed to the role is at present the elected Branch Secretary, Judy
Redford. However, Judy will step down at the November meeting of the Executive
Committee and a new Branch Secretary, John Francis, has been elected. As
far as the membership is concerned, things will operate very much as they
have before. It is the intention of the Branch to develop our
welfare/support network and the hope is that Judy will be able to do
that. Adopting the national database of membership, “Supersleuth”, should
allow us to devote more time and energy to fulfilling our key role. I
have every confidence that in Judy we have selected the right person for
the job and, along with the rest of the Executive Committee, I wish her
well. You will see an introduction from her in the Well-Mets article.
*****
BY
THE TIME you read this, a number of retired police officers will have
given evidence in the trial of the two men accused of the murder of
Stephen Lawrence. It strikes me that many of those officers have been
harshly treated over the past 18 years, by both the media and by the Job.
Quite clearly the trial is going to be, once more, a terrible ordeal for
the Lawrence family, but our former colleagues are also going to be under
a media spotlight that is likely to be far from sympathetic. My thoughts
go out to them all.
*****
FURTHER TO MY
COMMENTS about how prison doesn't work, High Down Prison at Banstead,
near me, has a gourmet restaurant called The Clink. There, prisoners are
trained in all aspects of catering, with a view to employment
post-release. The Clink is open to the public, and many local groups of
worthies support it – it was also featured in a BBC documentary.
Meanwhile, in Carshalton College and Merton College nearby, they also run
catering courses and also have excellent restaurants where the public is
invited to dine. Guess how many groups of the great and the good visit
their facilities? Needless to say, you won't be seeing a TV documentary
about them. Due to competition for spaces they turn away decent
hardworking young people, who have never broken the law in their lives,
every year. I am, of course, as keen as the next person for prisoners to
be rehabilitated into society, but preparing them for a job in a
profession where there is a lot of competition for places just doesn't
seem right. We are constantly told that some immigration is essential to
fill a skills gap. Surely it is within that gap that we should be
training prisoners to perform? It's a funny old world where criminality
is the route to success in the catering business.
*****
I’M SURE a lot of you
have been following the Dale Farm saga. I often wonder why they call
themselves ‘travellers’ when that is what is actually being asked of them
but they are bitterly opposed to doing so! They used the law to get
injunction after injunction and celebrated loudly when they ‘won’ another
legal victory and the Council was forced to cancel their eviction. Then,
finally, when common sense prevailed and the judge said the law was in
danger of falling into disrepute, they vowed to defy the law and blockade
the site to prevent their lawful eviction. Fortunately they were all sent
on their way – after ten years – without too much fuss.
And then there is the
encampment outside St Paul's Cathedral. Whenever I see the photograph of
St Paul's, standing triumphantly above the smoke of the Blitz, I think of
it as the most iconic and moving symbol of the resolve of Londoners in a
time of crisis. Now, when I see
the ramshackle band of idealists who have camped outside it, it
infuriates me. How they can reconcile the name of their campaign ‘Occupy
the London Stock Exchange’ (which they clearly neither want to do nor can
do) with their encampment outside our greatest church, I have no idea. I
think both Dale Farm and the protest are evidence of a common theme –
there is one law for the majority, and one for the minority.
If any one of us put up
a building on green belt land we would be subjected to the full weight of
the (planning) laws; erect a tent in a high street and you will be
arrested for willful obstruction in no time at all. In both cases, quite
right too. It seems that the authorities are far too soft on small –
indeed, tiny – minorities who disrupt life for the vast majority, yet so
quick to take action against individuals. As I said – it's a funny old
world.
*****
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