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Con-Watch: Have-a-Go-Hero Dominic Grieve
What scaremongering twaddle from Beaconsfield Conservative Dominic Grieve today. Giving David Davis a bloody good run for his money in the loony shadow Home Secretary stakes.
Although, thanks to nonsense like this, feeding the random reactionary scare memes, there is some fear in the community about prosecution over having a go at stopping a crime, this is utterly disproportionate to a tiny number of cases of people who intervene in good faith actually getting into any kind of trouble with the police.
Grieve suggests that brave good-faith have-a-go heroes will not face arrest, and then in disconcerting non sequitor that once arrested, investigated and passed to the CPS good intentions will be a factor in deciding what next. Status quo.
So are these people going to be free from the risk of arrest? No! Couldn't that be a bullies charter in some cases? Yes! Doesn't the current law already provide sensibly for reasonable force in self protection and crime prevention? Yes!
The last thing we need in this country is a Charter for Farmer Martin with gun-toting Tories slaughtering fleeing burglars with impunity.
Foremost in people's minds when considering intervening in such cases should be whether safer or more effective alternatives to that action are available, and whether their own safety and that of others could be compromised.
Has anyone spotted a real, attractive policy out there in Tory la-la-land? And please don't insult our intelligence by suggesting GOO's council tax freeze wheeze isn't really a mighty slashing of public services.
4 comments:
He does know that we've done it already, right?
http://www.labourmatters.com/2008/07/15/have-a-go-heroes-backed-by-new-law/
Where I live, 1 in 8 of the local council's employees are off sick at any time.
Rather than reflecting poor health, it reflects the poor attitude towards attendance and de-motivation that is endemic in the public sector.
Well if Grove wants to be a peeping tom let him, after all it's a cheep form of Birth Control.
However in view of the Vermin attitude on Villigante Justice (see above) could I suggest that if you catch this perv'e inspecting your sex life then a blow or two from an iron bar or a sledge hammer on the wrist and hands might :-
1/. Ruin his sex life
2/. Discourage his perversions.
GW
As we sadly don't know where you live anon 17:21 we cannot test your attendance assertion for accuracy. Or compare it with other forms of employment in the locality.
Most local authorities have already cut employment and services under Thatcher-Major and it is just possible that under-staffing feeds illness and absenteeism and de-motivation.
Few have much left in the way of "efficiency savings" which is "soft" for minor cuts in services.
Osborne's gimmick is just that. It will not stand up to scrutiny. And as with other announcements - cf Grieves, Gove - such things have already been taken pretty far under Labour.
Manchester do 2/2.5% inflation only increases year after year after year. Through efficiencies. Presumably the result of GOOs announcement would be that Manchester gets a top up of the equivalent of 2/2.5% of council tax receipts? - which incidentally are around 15% of the city's revenue budget.
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