The Favourite Is Usurped

Spare a thought - or maybe not - for Stephen House, the head of Strathclyde Police who was repeatedly reported to be the favourite in the search for the new head of Britain's biggest police force. He must have fancied his chances when so much of the MSM was doing its best to promote him so surely we can sympathise when he drowns his sorrows in coffee rather than Cristal tonight. I like champagne although I've only once ever tasted Cristal, the champagne of choice for the British elite I believe, and therefore try hard not to associate it only with happy occasions, but I doubt if I'll be able to substantiate a couple of bottles a year once the Scottish government has passed its proposal for a fixed unit price for alcohol.  That's another story.

Mr House has been usurped by Bernard Hogan Howe.

Mr Hogan-Howe  - I have a dislike of double barreled names in business as I find it slightly pretentious - is the former Merseyside chief constable. Boris Johnson and Theresa May supposedly agreed that his performance was outstanding.

What now for Mr House?  He certainly has good connections and he covered his back by saying, when he applied for the Met job:

"I have always been committed to Strathclyde Police and to keeping people safe in our communities.  That commitment has not wavered.  I look forward to continuing to lead this outstanding organisation and to being fully engaged in the process of establishing the new Scottish Police Service."

When I was a child a neighbour was the chief constable of what was then known as Dundee and Angus.  He put the fear of God into us children with just a look or by a parent saying 'I'll have a word with Mr X'. That same man was extremely kind and when I returned to Scotland, I often visited him in the home he shared with his daughter who is a dear childhood friend.  Mr X by then was virtually stone deaf and it was difficult to communicate at times but I could see the fairness in his views when he insisted upon discussing Scottish politics.  As he explained he'd had to be impartial for his career years but, knowing I had an interest in politics, he was always intent upon hear my opinions my .  Perhaps he was more patient with my attempts at shouting or maybe he was able to read my lips as he'd learned to do that over the years.  I was very fond of Mr X and his determination to ensure youngsters were put back on the straight and narrow instead of being labelled criminals for the rest of their lives.

Mr X was honest.  He didn't permit his staff to waste time pursuing issues which barely count as crimes.  He intended to keep the people of Dundee safe from criminality and he did. Henot to persecute the person who innocently committed a breach of legislation.  Ah, those were the old days.

So what for Stephen House now?  I wouldn't place a bet against him being the leader of the new Scottish Police Service.  Would you?

Mr X died four years ago at the age of 89 and continued to collect his favourite car, the Morris Minor, right to the end.  He was regularly seen round and about the area in one of his vintage cars and abhorred travelling in his daughter's 4 X 4.

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Poll Results

Sir Paul Stephenson

ex-Metropolitan Police Commissioner 

prior to his resignation

The result of the poll asking 'Who will be the next head of the Met?' was:

Stephen House -  13%
Hugh Orde -  5%
Bernard Hogan-Howe - nil
Tim Godwin -  nil
None of those who applied -  82%
Total votes:  113

There's a message in there somewhere to those who oversee the Metropolitan Police force. It will be ignored of course because the present culture is too deeply embedded.

A few weeks ago I fleetingly thought the phone hacking scandal would have had a strong enough effect to cause change within the organisation, but now the issue has been dropped by the MSM, the braided and overpaid will resume 'normal' service. Sighs of relief all round within the upper echelons of the Met no doubt.

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The Usual Suspects Have Applied

Boris Johnson, Theresa May and the MPA chairman Kit Malthouse will choose Britain's next top police officer.  The four candidates who applied are:

Top to bottom:

Stephen House, chief constable of Strathclyde Police

Sir Hugh Orde, president of ACPO (he's the one on the left)

Bernard Hogan-Howe, deputy Metropolitan Police commissioner

Tim Godwin, acting Metropolitan Police commissioner

All are highly ambitious, fully trained in diversity and equality and are experts in box-ticking and juggling statistics. It goes without saying they're also very well versed in police perks and pensions.

Which suspect would I elect? None of them. I would have liked to see the American given a chance but that's not to be as Mrs May has stamped her designer-shod foot.  He may have managed to change the culture for the good of the people, but now we'll have more of the same.

I've put a wee poll up on the right hand side if you'd like to take part in the selection process.

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A Lack Of Respect For Authority

The BBC and Sky News appear to have been in their element the past couple of days having cameras and reporters in various parts of London. Overkill is too kind a word to describe their delight at witnessing violence and their overpowering enthusiasm when they sight a burning vehicle.

Most of the looting and rioting thugs appear to be youths hell bent on causing trouble. It's pathetic to see them goading police and causing destruction to businesses, some of which may not survive due to their actions. Since Saturday night those intent on criminal behaviour have become more and more daring because police seem totally unable to control the situation, even though the numbers involved are tiny in comparison to the demonstrations, which also had their fair share of thugs joining, in London earlier in the year

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary and Lord Mayor were all out of the country on one of their annual holidays, although the Home Secretary, Prime Minister and Boris Johnson have now returned and are meeting to discuss the situation.

The rioting late on Saturday night initially may have been in protest about the shooting of one individual but now it's purely mindless violence organised Blackberry and Twitter. Last night on television I saw young men smashing their way into a business and removing various large items, while the police stood observing a few hundreds yards away. Their hands are tied by the politicians who refuse to use water cannon or rubber bullets in riot situations.

Inspector Gadget says 'we know that elitist governments always bring riots.'  An emotive comment, but maybe it has a little truth. One slightly concerning statement he makes is he expects more riots and disorder over the next few years. If police are unable to deal with a few raging youngsters smashing the windows of a small shop, there's little chance they are prepared for further riots. A vast amount of public money is spent on our police service yet it is not meeting the requirements of the majority of the population. Recently I said the police needed reorganisation and that is evidently more urgent than ever.

Eamonn Butler suggests David Cameron's idea of making Bill Bratton the new Commissioner of the Met is inspired and that is another sad reflection upon today's police force, when we can't produce 'home-grown' senior police officers who have enough skills to take charge of London's policing. The evidence shows Mr Bratton turned around crime in New York but would it be acceptable to have an American citizen in charge of the largest police force in Europe?

An accurate description of recent days would be 'a lack of respect for authority'.  Is it any wonder people have lost respect for officialdom when fraudulent politicians are given minimal prison sentences while an 85 year old war veteran is given six months for making an audio recording in court?  I'm sure most of us can think of plenty other  examples of 'justice'.

If David Cameron and his sun-tanned colleagues can't understand the frustrations people feel about secret courts, children being removed from families without good reason, the seriously ill being denied live-saving drugs - to name but a few - small injustices we hear of regularly, then there's no point in any meeting to discuss the present situation in London.

Respect is a two way attribute. When one side shuns the unspoken agreement, as has been gradually happening over the past 20 years, the other side eventually breaks. Hard working, law abiding communities are being destroyed by vicious thugs whose only aim is find cash and alcohol.  They have no respect for anyone.

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Londoners Deserve Better

Yesterday, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee rushed out a report - I understand it was made public at 5am - after it finished its inquiry into the phone hacking business - quite amazing when other Committees and inquiries - such as the Iraq inquiry - take months, if not more, to deliver preliminary findings.  We now have the evidence that our politicians can, if their reputations are at risk, produce reports within a very short time.

This report's conclusions were that deliberate attempts had been made by News International to thwart the various investigations and that there had been a catalogue of failures by the Metropolitan Police.

It's not surprising News International made efforts to obstruct police investigations, they had an excellent example to follow and it seems there are more revelations to come.

What is surprising is the ineptitude and lack of skills of the Met. As a teenager in Peebles, I vividly recall the bursting pride of a neighbour when she announced her son had been accepted for the Metropolitan Police. From pounding the streets of Peebles to pounding the pavements of the world's largest city was generally thought a extraordinary achievement for a laddie from a place which Londoners probably never even knew existed. Back then, when Dixon of Dock Green was the must-watch television programme, I thought the Met was, for obvious reasons, the best police force in the world. The media were keen to impress this upon their readers too at the time.

Robert Peel must be birling in his grave when he hears, from his modern day colleagues, excuses such as those under examination are obstructing their investigations.  In my naivety I thought the main duty of any police force is to use their skills to defeat obstructors, but I appear to be wrong. What is the 'elite' police force for if not for ensuring investigations are completed thoroughly and completely?

For senior Met officers to resign without reason shows the level of commitment these men have to their profession and fellow junior officers. It also shows the the Met, and perhaps forces throughout the UK, require complete restructuring.  We need - and deserve - a policing service which protects us and ensures those who break the laws of the land are duly punished.

Update: Since I wrote the above this morning David Cameron has made a statement in the House of Commons stating his intentions to make radical changes to the policing system. Ed Miliband continues to play the 'good guy' yet conveniently forgets his predecessors were deeply involved with the media in the past two decades. The BBC persists in its anti-government agenda, content in the thought that their competition has been firmly subdued.

The whole network and culture of the 3Ps (politicians, police and press) does not serve this country well. We deserve better and nobody more than Londoners who, although they have the biggest police force in the UK and one of the biggest in the world, appear to be of little priority to those in charge of their safety.

Will Cameron's changes make a difference? Being a cynic I doubt it but I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.

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