Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
|
Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
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Thugs
attack funeral car
Now
not even the dead are safe from hooligan explosion
BY
Gordon Rayner and Suzanne Finney - Daily Mail, May 19, 2005
A
funeral cortege was attacked by a teenage gan as the yob culture
plumbed new depths. Thugs threw an 8 ft-long lump of wood through
the windscreen of the slow-moving limousine carrying women mourners.
Police investigating the incident described it as 'the ultimate
disrespect for human dignity'.
The
sickening attack hapened as the vehicle was taking mourners from
widens Cmetery in Cheshire after a funeral service at Our lady
of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Church. As it drove past a
gan of four or five teenage boys, one of them hurled the wood,
which shattered the windscreen before lodging itself in the side
of the vehicle.
The
mourners, understood to be in their 60s and nieces of the elderly
woman who died, were left 'extremely distressed' by the incident,
but the car driver decided not to stop to minise their ordeal.
Appealing for witnesses, PC David Thomason said: "We obviously
see a lot of criminal damage but this was specifically targetted
at a funeral cortege. It is sick and the family are totally disgusted
by what has happened. the offenders clearly have no respect or
regard for the grieving relatives."
The
incident happened on Wednesday last week at 1.20 pm, but police
have only now released details. The youths were standing outside
Bankfield School but were not wearing uniform and are not thought
to be pupils. The Mercedes funeral car containing six mourners
and the driver belonged to a local firm which asked not to be
named.
A
spokesman said the missile which hit the driver's side door pillar
before shattering the wind-screen, had caused £250 damage
but the car was now back on the road. The driver was shaken but
unhurt. He had been travelling at around 20 mps and pulled over
to check the damage while the youths scattered.
Tony
Blair has promised to restore 'respect' in society, insisting
he will use his third term in office to crack down on yob culture
and anti-social behaviour. Just 20 miles away from Widnes, father-of-four
Phil Carroll is fighting for his life in Salford after he was
battered to the ground by hooded yobs whom he confronted after
they threw stones at his car.
On
Wednesday (May 18, 2005) Chief Superintendent David Baines of
Greater Manchester Police, summed up the fears of millions when
he
described the way communities were being terrorised by 'feral
youths' who show contempt for law-abiding citizens and for
the law itself.
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Discipline?
We can only learn it from our parents
I
was one of the original London Teddy Boys. When we first
appeared, the police and the media accused us of every sort
of mayhem and mischief, though the reality was very different.
We were, in fact, just a bunch of pasty-faced youths who
wore Edwardian-style fashions and hung about on street corners
trying to look harder than we were. We lived in the shadow
of fathers and uncles who had fought a world war. Many of
us, in turn, went on to do National Service.
After
grammar school, I became a long-serving officer in the London
Fire Brigade, the father of three, stepfather of four, and
I have an exemplary record. My poor, but devoted, parents
made sure I had a first-class education and disciplined
lifestyle.
These
days, it's the turn of the 'feral' youths in 'hoodies' and
baseball caps to take the stick. But if they lack the discipline,
respect and values of my 'yob' generation, it's because
they are the products of substandard, anything goes parenting.
That, in turn, is the fault of lazy, self-serving politicians
and a society obsessed with materialism.
The
young, with their half-formed minds, have too much to say
and too great an influence. Society
has become lazy and apathetic in its attitude towards directing
teenagers to civilised behaviour. We have betrayed our greatest
asset - our young - and we must live with it.
Respect?
My generation had it in spades. Teddy Boys or not, we knew
our parents had earned it the hard way through war, courage
and sacrifice. We can't start another world war to gain
the respect of the young, but wee can fight a system that's
destroying the credibility of parenting, marriage and the
cornerstone of civilised society - discipline.
We
should stop whining about the old days and shying away from
harsh decisions. The young weren't around in the old days
- they know no different. But we were, and it's time we
knocked a few parental and political heads together and
stopped betraying all those magnificent people who gave
their todays for our tomorrows. John Barker, Angmering,
W. Sussex - Daily Mail, May 26, 2005.
Who's
keeping the peace?
What
has become of keeping the Queen's peace? Policemen once
swore to uphold and maintain that peace when they were appointed
constables. A breach of the Queen's peace was - and, I believe,
still is - a criminal offence. Why have none of the louts
and yobs who have made life hell for so many of her people
not been prosecuted for having, at the very least, breached
the Queen's peace.
Letter
from David Bourne, Winchelsea, E. Sussex, Daily Mail, May
26, 2005.
Cowboy
Britain
Watching
a Western on TV, I realised nothing much has changed. Half-a-dozen
gun en wandered into town and caused mayhem because the
mild-mannered sheriff saw no need to get tough. After a
few killings, the sheriff, in despair, yelled: "Why?".
A gunman replied: "Because there's no law here to stop
me, so I can."
Doesn't
that just sum up our country today, Sheriff Blair?
Letter
from J. Davies, Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire - Daily Mail, May
26, 2005
|
Schools
hit by wreckers aged six, four and three years old
By
James Tozer - Daily Mail, May 19, 2005
When
headmaster John Dawson found vandals had raided the £1 million
extension being built at his school, he regarded it as a depressing
sign of the times. But he only realised how depressing when he
examined CCTV footage of the gang in action.
Two
of the three vandals spotted causing damage of more than £20,000
to the walls, floors and windows of the unfinished block were
too young to go to school. The tiny handprints they left after
daubing paint all over the building showed just how far from grown-up
they were.
Yesterday
it emerged that the eldest of the trio is a mere six years old,
while the others are four and three. All several years under the
age of criminal responsibility, the two boys and a girl cannot
be prosecuted over the damage. Instead, officers have been restricted
to speaking to their parents.
Yesterday
Mr Dawson , headmaster of Burn Naze Primary School in Thornton
Cleveleys, near Blackpool, said he had been stunned at what the
cameras captured. "I would not have believed such young children
were involved until I saw with my own eyes from CCTV footage,"
he said. "The children were there for some time, not just
a few minutes. Although the children are only young I'm sure they
knew what they were doing was wrong, even if they did not fully
understand the consequences. I find it astonishing that children
that age are wandering around alone at any time of day, let alone
6 PM when it happened. We have security staff on site at weekends
but now they will be here every night."
The
children are thought to have broken into the half-finished classroom
block, opened a tin of dark grey paint and smeared it wherever
they could. Cleaning up the mess has delayed progress in fitting
out the building. The cost of laying new floors and bringing in
extra security brings the total bill to £23,000.
Mr
Dawson spoke of his frustration at the waste of so much money.
"Repairing what has been done and bringing in extra security
staff is a complete drain on public money," he said. "We
could have spent the money on school equipment."
Police
have identified the children, believed to be a brother and sister
and an unrelated boy. But because they are under ten - the age
of criminal responsibility- they cannot be prosecuted in the youth
courts. Instead police have spoken to their parents. They could
take further action if they find evidence of other misbehaviour
by their children.
A
police spokesman said: "We have identified the children involved
and their ages. One is just three. A girl and two boys are involved.
The parents cannot be held criminally responsible but we can apply
through the court for a parenting order on the grounds of their
children's anti-social behaviour."
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