Bringing The Law Into Disrepute

MONDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2008

Bringing The Law Into Disrepute

Cool, or what?

News this morning (HTP JB) that the police are moving into the designer logo biz:

"Until now, the three-sided sign is the only object to carry the New Scotland Yard logo, but that is about to change. For the first time the force is to licence the brand commercially. 

A trademark for the use of the New Scotland Yard logo on merchandise was granted last week and the first deal for a manufacturer to use the name on its products has already been signed.

Anna Gardiner, the head of licensing at the Metropolitan Police said: "This is a really exciting time for us and a great opportunity for new licensees to get on board and tap into the heritage of New Scotland Yard."

Apparently they wanted to sell the old Scotland Yard logo, but they discovered that had already been flogged off to a Kentuckian kilt maker (no, really) back in the 70s - ie the last time Labour bankrupted the country and public services were forced to scrabble for cash.

So WTF thought it was a good idea to devalue the police brand still further? Yes, we know the no-shit NYPD and the FBI already run logo businesses, but NuLab's super-PC Old Bill ain't exactly in that league. They are considered entirely useless by most of London's residents (eg see this blog), and their latest plod round Westminster way has hardly enhanced their reputation.

And talking of bringing the law into disrepute, what's going to happen about thehippies who closed Stansted airport today? Their runway invasion was illegal, potentially dangerous, and imposed substantial costs on law-abiding citizens. Sure, 39 of them have been arrested, but does anyone think they will be properly punished?

Last time a bunch of these guys decided to invade and close down a vital public utility - the Kingsnorth power station - they were let off, because "they were trying to prevent climate change causing greater damage to property around the world".

As it happens, Tyler believes Big Government causes huge damage to both property and lives, but he doesn't go round breaking the law to make his point. Even though, unlike the hippies, his cause does not enjoy the full and whole-hearted support of the state broadcaster.

But when it comes to bringing the law into real disrepute, you can't beat our old friend homicide.

As regular readers will know, we gave up blogging homicide some time ago. But we nearly broke our rule a couple of weeks back. That was when we heard the outcome of the appalling Hannah Foster murder case.

17 year-old Hannah was kidnapped, then brutally raped and murdered, by an animal called Maninder Pal Singh Kohli. As Hannah's Mum later put it, her precious daughter had been left "terrified and alone with an evil stranger. She would have been frozen with fear, unable to run or fight – the proverbial lamb to the slaughter. I feel as though Kohli has ripped out my heart and stamped on it."

But Kohli fled to India, and as far as our criminal justice system was concerned, that was that. Too bad.

Despite that, Hannah's parents didn't give up. Using their own efforts and their own money, they somehow tracked him down, and despite huge difficulties, eventually got him extradited back to the UK. So then it was down to our so-called justice system.

And it failed. It shamefully failed to deliver anything like what most of us would describe as justice. Although found guilty, Kohli was sentenced to a minimum jail term of just 22 years.

As we listened to Hannah's Dad on the Court steps we were grinding our teeth:

"We cannot accept how a complete stranger can abduct, rape and murder your teenage daughter – still a child in the eyes of the law - and yet not end his days in prison.

The punishment should fit the crime. In this case, it most certainly did not."

There is something seriously wrong with a criminal justice system that fails to protect 17 year old girls from people like Kohli: 22 years is nowhere near a proportionate sentence for what he did, and its deterrent effect is practically zilch. There is also something seriously wrong with a police force that fails to pursue a brutal murderer, yet can find time to set up logo franchising deals.

Disreputable doesn't really cover it.

PS One other jaw-clenching aspect of the Kohli trial was how Bishop Snow chose to report it that night from his C4 News pulpit. Whereas even the BBC had carried that statement from Hannah's father, Snow didn't even mention it. We know you can always rely on the libmetromediaelite to ignore inconvenient truths, but even for the Bishop, that was particularly unprincipled.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2008

News From BOM Correspondents - 11

30 minute shocker

Latest news and links:

I.O.U.S.A

LH recommends we all watch the movie I.O.U.S.A. "It follows the campaign by the former Comptroller General of the US's attempt to draw attention to the 8 trillion and rising US public debt. It is a truly frightening film."

It certainly is.

In graphic detail it explains how America's four deficits - budget, savings, trade, and leadership - have set the country on the road to ruin. And for people who don't know, it explains precisely how huge debts to overseas lenders undermine not just prosperity, but also national security and political autonomy (its example being how in 1956 America itself forced Britain to withdraw from Suez simply by threatening to pull the plug on sterling).

And the scariest thing about it?

All of it applies just as well to us.

See I.O.U.S.A. website here.

Rushing for the exit

According to the South China Morning Post:

"Beijing "would welcome" any consideration by HSBC Holdings of returning its headquarters to Hong Kong and is working on incentives to lure the banking giant back, according to banking sources and a central banker in charge of Hong Kong affairs. 

State think-tanks have suggested to the government various proposals to attract HSBC back to Hong Kong after the bank announced last year its intention to leave Britain for tax reasons." (HTP JW)

Meanwhile, UK chemical industry bosses have written to Gordo threatening to move overseas if he goes ahead with the EU's further carbon emissions curbs. They say:

"We believe there is a significant danger to our £60 billion industry if phase three of EU ETS becomes law in its current form. 

Chemical businesses situated throughout the UK, especially in the north of England and central Scotland, with 80% of them foreign-owned, will be decimated, putting almost 200,000 jobs at risk."

We remain baffled as to why anyone would think now is a good time to hobble industry with even more regulation and cost, but then, we're not hippies.

Arrrrghhhh HMRC

A big and entirely understandable arrrghhhh!!! from JB, who highlights two items from the rock-bottom terminally dysfunctional HM Revenue & Customs (see many previous blogs eg here)

First, the news that they are shutting 90 local offices and laying off another 3,600 staff: it's part of their bonkers Gershon cuts, which will axe more 200 offices and 26,000 staff. As we've said before, we're all in favour of greater efficiency, but these cuts are being made with an extremely blunt instrument and come at the cost of hacking off HMRC's capability to collect taxes. Already it's believed they've abandoned pursuit of any back-taxes less than £20 grand.

But what really made JB scream was the second item. It's an advert for a new job at HMRC. Not collecting taxes, you understand. No, no, no. This is working as a journalist - A Journalist! -on their... no, sorry, I need a stiff drink before I can type this... a journalist on their "People Function Communications Team".

And what exactly is the People Function Communications Team? As far as we can see, it's an internal propaganda department dedicated to persuading HMRC's poor benighted staff that everything is getting better.

Overseas Aid Industry

This year we've done several blogs on Britain's tax-funded overseas aid industry, and our dispiriting conclusion is that it's mainly about providing employment for those who work in it (eg here).

The latest outrage relates to our old friends at CDC (the Commonwealth Development Corporation, as was - see this blog). This is wholly owned by DfID - ie us - yet last year paid its CEO a breath-taking £970 grand. As PAC Chairman Leigh said:

"This is not a private company, Dfid actually owns it. Do we need to pay the chief executive £970,000 a year?" 

I think that paying an income of nearly £1m to somebody who works in an entirely publicly-owned company is an insult to the millions of people living on $1 a day, and the tens of thousands of charity workers who are slaving away on tiny salaries."

Quite.

(HTP HJ)

The Hollow Fleet

Over at US war correspondent site War Is Boring David Axe lets rip on Britain's hollow naval fleet:

"As has been mentioned many times on this blog, the Royal Navy is a wreck. A decade of neglect has resulted in a fleet with too few ships — and ships that sail without key weapon systems and virtually no air cover. The latest bad news: the Royal Navy’s flagship, the small aircraft carrier Illustrious, sailed to the Middle East last month with just four Harrier ground-attack jets aboard, instead of the dozen or more she was designed to carry. Four jets!"

And as regular BOM readers may recall, even when we get our new carriers, things won't be any better. Thanks to yet another procurement cock-up, they will be equipped for many years with those same 50 year old Harriers.

It makes you want to weep.

(HTP LH)