After ‘Plebgate’ How Can We Trust The Lying Police ?

The whole ‘Plebgate’ issue with Andrew Mitchell and the police has reared its head again over twelve months after it occurred. Why? Well basically because it’s emerged that now three police chiefs are refusing to back down after criticism by the home secretary for not disciplining their officers who were accused of trying to discredit Mitchell.

It’s now come to light that the Independent Police Complaints Commission said a misconduct case should have been answered. The three police officers in question are accused of giving a false account of a meeting with Andrew Mitchell.

The meeting was held after the row between police officers and Mitchell over words he used when he was stopped from riding a bicycle through the Downing Street gates way back in September 2012. A transcript of the meeting clearly shows, that, while he admitted swearing, Mitchell continually denied using the word "pleb" or insulting the police. But afterwards the three police officers who conducted the meeting said he had refused to elaborate on what had happened and should resign.

So it isn't about the whole "pleb" thing anymore. It's the fact that three police officers were proven to have colluded to lie, on national TV, about what was discussed during the meeting so they could heap pressure on a democratically elected minister. This was then exacerbated by their three, respective chief constables going on to support their lying officers.

Liars
Three weeks after the original incident, Andrew Mitchell met Inspector Ken MacKaill, of West Mercia Police, Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton, of Warwickshire Police, and Sergeant Chris Jones, of West Midlands Police acting on behalf of the Police Federation which represents rank-and-file officers, at his constituency office in Sutton Coldfield. Rightly or wrongly, Mitchell recorded the meeting and from this recording the transcript was compiled.

I've read this transcript and I've listened to the interviews given afterwards by the police who were present. The transcript can be found here:

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/investigation_commissioner_reports/Transcript%20of%20meeting.pdf

Speaking to the press immediately after the meeting, Inspector MacKaill claimed Mitchell would not provide an account of the incident and called for his resignation. If you read the transcript you will very quickly conclude that this was a complete lie. So the issue now is no longer Mitchell and what he did or did not say to the Downing Street officer. The issue is whether police embellished an event for their own interests. Now to me, that is unethical and frankly below the standard I expect of, not just of the police. but anyone who can use their influence for their own purposes.

The whole thing points to a set-up by the police. After all it wasn’t Mitchell who blew anything out of proportion. It was the police officers who ran to The Sun and The Telegraph with what is now shown to be a false story using some very deliberate provocative words.

As much as I dislike Andrew Mitchell, if you read the transcript of the meeting he does say time and again that he doesn't want to accuse the officers of lying and wants to put the story to bed. It's the police themselves who insist that an investigation is needed, they then walk out to the press, and lie about what was said.

This is all now more about how senior police officers are well up to their necks in the lies and cover up. When you put this in the context of some other recent events, it increasingly proves that the police cannot be trusted to police themselves.

Trust Gone?

In the transcript of the Mitchell meeting is a statement from one of the officers that actually hits the nail squarely on the head, it’s a pity they didn’t abide by this statement. What he actually said was:

“You must understand we are in a bit of a hiatus here because Honesty and Integrity as I have said a number of times over the last couple of days, is a central tenor to the police core value and if that wasn’t the case anything could happen as it should be to politicians and anybody in public life and public office and there is nothing new I can say on that in the last couple of days and to have by implication if not direct accusation to have a Senior government figure suggesting that an officers account of events is inaccurate and possibly untruthful has wider implication, not just for that incident but for the police service in general.”

Rather than admit this in the subsequent statement to the press outside, he lied about what was said and set about trying to discredit Mitchell further. At this point my trust in the police’s ‘honesty and integrity’ was blown apart. These three policemen will now find it hard to present themselves as credible witnesses in any future cases that they might be involved in.

Not the first time
It's not just Plebgate, it's Hillsborough, it's the cover up when Ian Tomlinson died at an anti-globalization march, it’s the De Menezes shooting. Almost daily there are less famous tales of unprofessional police, lazy police, police covering one another's' backs and downright bent coppers. The cynicism and loss of confidence in the police is widespread even among us law abiding citizens. Go on YouTube and have a look, there's plenty of evidence of the police trying to throw their weight around and getting it wrong.

To me police credibility was destroyed by the De Menezes shooting. I can accept that the shooting itself was an honest mistake, but the way the police tried to alter the actual events, blacken Mr De Menezes character & just plain lie about what happened was totally unacceptable. Since then the police have behaved in exactly the same manner over a number of other incidents.

With Ian Tomlinson’s death, I always found it astonishing the police continually claimed he was a rioter then repeatedly used the phrase "pushed to the ground". The "push" came from 1 metre away, at pace with the truncheon impacting into the area of Mr Tomlinson’s liver/kidney. That’s some push!

Oh and remind me again, what was the number of police logs which were "modified" following the Hillsborough disaster, circa 120?

Above the Law
When we imprison people for lying on a speeding ticket and then do nothing to police officers who mislead in the same way it makes the police seem above the law.

There now seems to be a large number of policemen, particularly at senior levels, who believe that the rules that apply to the public in general do not apply to them! These days the police clearly close ranks when allegations are levelled at them.

Imagine if a member of the public lies to the police in an investigation, you can be sure he or she will be taken to account.

With the Mitchell case a major public issue about the honesty of a cabinet member is brought into disrepute by possibly dishonest police officers and these chief constables are refusing to answer or accept the IPCC findings. Utterly Outrageous!! We're told its a few 'bad apples'. If this were true they'd make an example of them. No prosecutions ever arise & the inherent corruption seemingly continues.

Do the police get how it looks?
I have no political axe to grind, but do the police have any idea how badly they are coming across to the general public? We can hear the interview with Andrew Mitchell. Then we can hear how the police reported it. Now we know the report conclusion was reversed.

For the police to just criticise the IPCC for making their views public misses the point entirely; the IPCC view is a view that seems an obvious conclusion.

If there is a good and reasonable explanation of what has gone on, the police need to be shouting it from the rooftops, rather than hiding behind phrases about how the IPCC could have conducted the investigation. This entire affair does appear determined to drag on with lie upon lie and whitewash upon whitewash.

I remain unsurprised that the Metropolitan Police continues to tolerate the presence of liars and criminals in its midst, but I did expect better of the Police Federation who must now join their more disreputable colleagues in public disgrace.

Unless Chief Constables are prepared to demonstrate clear honesty in all the police’s dealings with the public, then they are unfit for purpose and should be sacked instantly.

Sad State Of Affairs
The issue here is not whether you like or dislike Andrew Mitchell, he may well be a nasty little man who thought he was someone special, because he was a government minister. The issue here is the fact that the police, who are the enforcers of the law, lied and fabricated evidence on numerous occasions continuing to push the lie, even documenting the lie with a fake email from a supposed member of the public; who was in fact another police person, then compounding the whole thing by lying again about the meeting with Mitchell.

The British public has to wake up to the fact that morally this country has slipped backwards from the once decent place that it was. The really sad part of all of this is that as a kid I was brought up to believe the police were honest and good and that we should have respect for their position. I lost that long ago. Very sad.

Imagine, if instead of a cabinet minister and a gate, the row had been between my teenage son wearing a hoodie and a police officer. Would millions have been spent on an enquiry? Of course not, it would be down to the police station, fingerprints and DNA taken, cautioned and a police record for life, with no redress against a lying police officer. 

Makes you think, doesn't it !

‘Go Home’ Vans Banned – Why?

You may have seen the ‘Go Home’ illegal immigrant vans on the news that were touring some of the borough’s of London earlier this year, one is pictured below. Well they’ve just been banned, but interestingly, NOT for being offensive, irresponsible or racist. No they’ve been banned because the posters on the vans referred to inaccurate arrest statistics. Now there’s a turn up for the books.

The Home Office using misleading data, surely not ? It seems to me, Cameron’s Government have clearly failed on their claim to reduce legal immigration to tens of thousands, even when the Government's statistics on legal immigration were exposed as merely guesses. They still seem to care not a jot for the numbers of illegal immigrants in the UK for which negative statistic headlines clearly cannot be produced, other headlines today about border control data clearly proves this. We still don’t know how many people are in this country illegally and or legally. One thing the poster is definitely misleading on, is it tries to make us think that this Government actually intends to do something about immigration, which it obviously doesn’t.

We need to remember that telling immigrants to go home and doing something about it are two different things, and the doing something about it part is totally lacking from this and the past government. If government are doing something about it how come they are given bigger houses and bigger handouts than our very own people, how come their cases goes to the European court whilst ours don't get a sniff?

In truth it’s like Nigel Farage says , it's not the illegal immigrants that are the problem, it's the 'legal' (ie EU) ones , the ones we can't do a thing about thanks to Labour opening our borders over ten years ago, that are the problem. How many are working here and how many indigenous people are unemployed? Do the maths, unemployable is solvable.

Anyway back to the ‘Go Home’ vans. It’s reassuring in many ways that they were banned on a technicality. When I first saw the headlines I presumed The Guardian reading, comfy shoe wearing right-on lefties had won again. Oh dear I thought, these Vans are upsetting illegal immigrants so out comes the race card again! It all turned out to be complete and utter rubbish, maybe we should now get another 1000 vans out everywhere?

Do-Gooders

It was only offensive to the politically correct brigade and the do gooders who find everything offensive and the very same culprits who create problems where there are none. I actually found ‘Liberty’s’ van (pictured below, more of a problem because the wording on their posters could easily have created protests and tensions amongst disparate groups, then chuck into the mix the EDL and the rent a mob whose sole purpose is violence & confrontation of police and we're back to race riots. The Government’s van was saying, if you’re in the UK illegally, we can offer you free advice and help you to leave the UK without being arrested as an illegal immigrant.

Don’t forget illegal immigrants are criminals, so what is wrong with giving criminals a clear message? The PC do-gooders will be complaining about posters warning that there are pickpockets operating next as its offensive to pickpockets.

The ASA are quoted as saying the poster was "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or distress". So you could say, why ban it then? If someone is in this country illegally then what is wrong with giving the advice to them to go home? What, in fact does cause "widespread offence" is the proliferation of illegal migrants coming into this country and using it like a one stop shop for welfare, benefits, education and free health care, then trying to change our laws and customs to reflect their own failed medieval culture. If the illegal immigrants find it offensive then maybe they could leave these shores and find a country more tolerant of there incumbent needs and drain on resources.

Smoke Screen

But, at the end of the day, the poster vans were a smoke screen, an ill thought out knee jerk reaction, making out the Tories are strong on immigration. The real current problem on immigration that is crippling our NHS and schools etc is uncontrolled EU immigration. Now Mr Cameron you have an opportunity to do something about that. Give us an in/out EU referendum now or alternatively close our borders to EU migrants today. We all know this will not happen though. The Tories are pathetic on immigration that's why the only answer to sort this particular mess out is to vote UKIP. If we don’t do something, this once great country of ours is well and truly doomed thanks to successive spineless governments!

Do I really think things will get better? Not a chance! What a joke we have become.

Sorry Cam', I Still Don’t Trust You

Let me start by saying I’m probably one of David Cameron’s target audience. I’m one of his ‘hard-working people’. I voted for him in 2010, in fact, up until then I’d always voted Tory, indeed I’ve been asked twice now to stand as a Tory councillor (and once by UKIP too). Before anyone accuses me, I’m not rich, I don’t come from a middle class or privileged background (my dad was a fireman and trade unionist, my mum did cleaning jobs). I left school with 8 O-Levels; I’ve got no A-Levels and didn’t go to University. I did a five year apprenticeship which got me a HNC, after that I’ve just worked really really hard at my career to make sure I have a nice house, a nice car etc. Nobody gave it to me; it’s taken nearly 30 years of hard work by me to get there. I’ve always had the ethos of work hard and rewards will come, just as Mr Cameron suggested in his conference speech.

Anyway, listening to David Cameron’s speech at the Tory Party Conference, was interesting, some of it was good common sense and what many of us wanted to hear. He spoke about some of the things us ‘hard-working people’ get annoyed with. His promises to get rid of dole bludgers rings true, why should you get more from other peoples hard earned taxes than you can from working yourself? His comments about the UK being ‘a land of opportunity’ where ‘profit is not a dirty word’ are spot on. I also liked the attack on Labour having learned nothing from their last term in office and his insistence to the Liberals that the Tories are the party of tax cuts not them. Overall I suppose it was a fairly good, if unchallenging speech.

It might have come across as a nice, well aimed sound-bite, but today’s Tory party is not the party of the many. Nor is it the party many of us thought it was back in 2010. It is a party for the aspirational capitalist, and very few others. Yes that accounts for a lot of us, but certainly not the majority. They've gone on to prove they are South-centric, traditional, and exclusionary and they ignore, or have little regard for, much of what goes on North of Watford. All very disappointing for someone who campaigned for them in 2010.

However !

It might have been a reasonable, flag waving speech saying what the Tories will do, however, history has shown that it’s not what Cameron says, it’s what he doesn’t say we have to be careful of !!

If We Knew Then What We Know Now

The Tories/ Coalition Government have done so many things since coming to office that weren’t in either of their manifestoes it’s unbelievable. Nobody voted for many of the things they’ve done, so how did they get the mandate ?

Items which spring immediately to mind are the massive upheaval and cost to ‘reform’ the NHS. The Coalition, and I mean both parties to it, is now engaged in the dismantlement of the NHS in England, motivated by a combination of wild ideological zealotry and outrageous commercial conflicts of interest.  They don’t get it, in general we like the NHS and we’re happy to pay for it, it doesn’t need major wholesale reform or cutting. When Cameron came in we all had great hope that for personal reasons and because he ring-fenced the budget that his 3 letters NHS rang true. He said “no top down reorganisation of the NHS”. We believed him. Then whatever the rights and wrongs of the changes, went and did a top down reorganisation of the NHS. My trust in him started to evaporate.

Another big one for me was the decimation of our armed forces. He did this at the same time as utilising them to fight other people’s wars more and more. Just how much long term money we’d already spent was tipped down the drain after the Strategic Defence and Security Review? Our Army has been cut to such a small size that by 2020, in its entirety they can comfortably all have a seat at Old Trafford. The number of tanks we have has been cut by 40%. Our aircraft carriers were scrapped or sold off with the exception of one which is now a helicopter carrier because, wait for it, he sold all our carrier aircraft (the Harriers) to the yanks for spare parts ! The new generation Nimrod’s that were built at a cost of £3 BILLION and were about to start entering squadron service were unceremoniously cut up for scrap almost immediately after the review. How is that good value for money for us tax payers ? Did Cameron tell us he was going to waste this amount of money before the election ? Did he Hell !!

HS2 is another one, was that in the manifesto ? I don’t remember voting for any promise to borrow and spend £50 Billion of our kid’s taxes to spend on a white elephant few people will actually benefit from or actually want. 

The list is endless. Like I say Its not what he says it what he doesn’t say and that’s why I still don’t trust him and for the first time in a General Election won’t be voting Tory in 2015.

So who will I vote for come 2015 ?

Good question, certainly not RedEd who wants to turn the Country into some sort of former Soviet State where he thinks he’s the Union puppet master but he’s actually their puppet. His approach has got Neil Kinnock written all over it, we didn’t want him and we don’t want Ed.

How about Liberal – LMFAO – What do they stand for ? Just to pee from what I’ve seen, and that’s just the women. I think Nick Clegg had his spine removed during an operation as part of the reforming of the NHS, he’s ineffectual in everything he does, a complete oxygen thief.

UKIP? Maybe ! I agree with a lot of what UKIP stand for, but there are elements of it I don’t. UKIP’s prime policy is leaving the European Union of course. Yes, I agree we should leave the EU in its current state. What we should do though is go back in history and work out what we went in it for in the first place. The original purpose and name we knew it by was actually the ‘Common Market’, it was for trade purposes, that’s what we had a referendum about membership of, and we went in on the basis of better trading relationships. 

It appears that trade now takes a back seat to rules, payments, human rights, people movement, quotas need I go on?  Cameron is right that we need to renegotiate our position but I think it needs to go a lot further than he thinks. It needs to go back to just a trading goods agreement and get rid of all the rest of it. How do we do that? The only way really, is in response to a straight in/out referendum. If the country votes ‘out’, the EU will have to sit up and take notice, they’re in danger of losing too much revenue for them not to. That’s when we are in the strongest position to force a change and reversion to what our parents and grandparents voted for in the first place should take precedence.

And as a little postscript, don’t forget it was Edward Heath’s Tory Government in 1973 that took us into Europe, Harold Wilson’s Labour opposition actively opposed it even forcing the referendum in 1975 after they came to power to gauge whether the population actually wanted to be in it (the vote was ‘yes’ by the way). Oh how times have changed.

So in conclusion. the only thing I can say is : You can’t trust any of them these days !!!

Six Million CCTV Cameras Watch Us Everyday - Why ?

I was struck this week by the announcement from Manchester City Council that they are installing 15 ‘Super-cameras’ on the streets of Manchester. Initially what concerned me was the cost at £17k per camera, over a quarter of million in total. But what are they going to be used for? Well quite simply catching motorists driving in bus lanes. It seems each device has two hi-tech cameras and includes night vision capabilities, which enables them to catch up to 50 times more motorists than previous models of camera. Ahh right, I get it, so its to raise cash catching out unwitting drivers who end up in bus lanes in the city centre. They’re an easy target as driving round the city centre is a nightmare and ending up in a bus lane occurs all the time. Okay I get it now, just the usual anti-motorist policies of Labour controlled councils in the region.

Big Brother’s Watching

What it did get me thinking about, was CCTV cameras in general, I wondered just how many there are of these things observing and recording our lives? The figures stunned me !

I found a report produced earlier this year by the British Security Industry Authority who estimated that there are up to 5.9 million closed-circuit television cameras in the country, including 750,000 in “sensitive locations” such as schools, hospitals and care homes. The report was of the opinion that there is now one CCTV camera for every 11 people in the UK.

So how did this happen ? What are they all used for ? Who’s operating them and why ? All legitimate questions when we live in an allegedly free and open country. This isn’t Communist Russia or China, or somewhere like Iran or Syria, this is England, defender of the free !!

The UK has the highest person to camera ratio of any country in the world. Yes there are echoes of Orwell’s 1984. It seems, in 21^st Century England we are now being monitored in a way that few of us would recognise as being part of a healthy democratic society.

Where are all these cameras then ?

Everywhere it seems ! The report estimated there are between 291,000 and 373,000 cameras in public sector schools, plus a further 30,000 to 50,000 in independent schools. Surgeries and health centres have an estimated 80,000 to 159,000, while there are believed to be between 53,000 and 159,000 cameras in restaurants. The vast majority are private cameras.

Cheshire Study

Another study back in 2011 involved plastic policemen (PCSOs) physically counting virtually every camera in Cheshire. Over a two year period they interviewed the owners of every premises in the county. During the ongoing project they counted 12,333 cameras, the majority of these were inside premises, rather than facing the street, and only a relatively small number of (504) were run by public authorities.

Now forgive me for asking, but did you realise that all these private individuals, companies and corporate big business were recording you and me? What are they doing with the data they record ? And more to the point, who is watching them?

Corporate Hypocrisy

An interesting fact I discovered is that many of these private companies film you, but don’t allow photography on their premises. A very good example of this is LendLease who own and operate Golden Square Shopping Centre in the centre of Warrington. This place is ridden with CCTV cameras, they record your every move from arriving to leaving. Now within one of the courtyards is the historic Barley Mow pub, the oldest pub in Warrington, built in 1561. If you try to take a photo of this historic landmark you will be descended on rather rapidly by a couple of intimidating meat head private security guards ordering you to desist or leave the shopping centre. Why? Well guess what? Photography by the public is banned, but it’s perfectly ok for them to record you though !   

Crime Prevention

All these cameras are allegedly there to prevent crime and make you feel safer. How often though are their images inadmissible in court as evidence? More often than you think. They don’t prevent the crime taking place, they make it a bit easier for the police to catch the offenders. And don’t forget, with all those cameras in place, none of them caught those two muslim guys hacking a soldier to death on the  Woolwich streets earlier this year.

Even my neighbour has a cctv camera installed watching his drive. When some local scrotes had a go at his car, the security lights came on, all the balaclavered yobs did was give a thumbs up to the camera and carry on !

Cameras will quite happily let you get raped and murdered, they merely ensure that there will be video evidence should your unfortunate demise happen in front of it. Unless of course your attacker is wearing a hood. Safety, is not what these devices provide.

Not Doing Anything Wrong

The main argument most people repeatedly trot out is “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about”. Didn’t the Gestapo and the KGB use this kind of argument ? If you do nothing wrong, then what you do is nobody's business but your own. It’s not about that though; it’s about intrusion and removal of privacy. It’s about private companies holding images of me.  I’m not doing anything wrong, I’m not a criminal but I resent being followed by cameras wherever I go.

I was in Bristol for a conference a few years back. I can vividly remember my surprise in looking up from my cornflakes in the breakfast room of my hotel only to see a CCTV camera staring back at me. Was it really necessary?

So, actually I do have something to hide. It’s my privacy. I value my privacy and draw a line. I refuse to accept for whatever reason, to give up my privacy. I am happy in the knowledge that I do not commit crimes and feel as an individual that values my privacy that I shouldn't have to relinquish it for a crime I may or may not commit.

Regulation

The Home Office introduced a CCTV Code Of Practice last year after concerns over the potential for the abuse or misuse of surveillance by the state in public places. But this was only a code of practice and only concerned public not private cameras. The code was also written in such general terms that there will be no change in CCTV use at all. In addition there are no penalties so the people working for the authorities will just ignore the code, so what was the point. Another toothless policy.

Bigger Picture

Is this part of a bigger picture, we already know that all our emails and phone conversations are recorded? They fingerprint kids in schools for "school dinners" and library use. How long before DNA is taken at birth ? And what about ANPR ? This is another form of CCTV; it’s defined as providing a motion profile of your vehicle (incl. picture) and is taken without your explicit consent by roadside cameras all over the country then stored for 2 years.

I don’t remember voting for any of this, it feels like its been done by stealth. In truth its been done under the technological progress banner. But why? Why have we allowed this to happen in this  country? In other countries they object and don’t allow themselves to be continually videoed, that’s why we have the most cameras in the world, we’re just brain washed compliant people.  

Path of Least Resistance

We seem more and more, to be becoming a quasi police state, most people just don't see it. It might be hard for the liberal minded Brits to understand, but in most countries there aren't spy cameras on every street corner, and most governments don't metaphorically steam open everyone's letters with digital technology. It is also not normal behaviour of governments to record all telephone calls either, and we know the British Government is doing all these things thanks to Edward Snowden, a man now on the run in fear for his life. There’s no need for it, no one benefits from it, where’s it all going to lead? Civil disobedience ? Uprisings? I doubt it, we’ll just settle for the path of least resistance as we always do. Just give us wall to wall sport and ready access to cheap alcohol and sex, and you can push anything by us and then film us enjoying it.

Scottish Independence. Any chance of the truth ?

So the Scottish independence referendum is exactly a year away. The current polls indicate that far from being delighted with the prospect of independence, the majority of Scots seem to remain unpersuaded that it really offers them a better deal.

The ‘Yes’ side's average poll rating currently stands at 33%, while the ‘No’ side has a score of 50%. Around 17% say they do not know or are unsure about what they will do,

Things aren’t going to plan for Alex Salmond and his hopelessly inadequate deputy Nicola Sturgeon. They had hoped that by now, Scots would be embracing independence, galvanising the population to a ‘Yes’ vote whilst dismissing the unionist scare stories about losing jobs, EU membership, the pound and the armed forces. But it isn’t happening, according to a colleague of mine who lives up there, the Scottish press is full with warnings about pensions, benefits, immigration and debt levels if an independent Scotland occurred.

Alex and Nicola though dismiss it all as the scaremongering of the unionist press; indeed Mr Salmond said he no longer bothers to read papers like The Scotsman as he reckons they are biased. He needs to be careful because the rest of the UK press haven’t really got going yet. Once the militantly unionist papers like the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Telegraph get going proper, Alec and his crew are in for a fairly torrid time.

The truth is that many Scots have yet to be convinced that they need to leave the UK in order to improve their economic prospects. There are still too many imponderables, uncertainties, unknown unknowns.

It’s just like Ireland

No it’s not. Independence is a very novel concept for most Scots. Scotland has always been a willing participant of the union. Ireland had history on its side. There was a century of political nationalism before the Easter Rising of 1916 and the subsequent civil war that led to Ireland’s departure from the United Kingdom. In Scotland however, not only was political nationalism absent, but the Scots have always been enthusiastic British nationalists. Scots always regarded themselves as junior partners in the British Empire. They fought Britain’s wars, kept the books, ran the colonial administrations and evangelised the natives.

For years and years the Scottish Nationalists were going backwards electorally, it was only with the return of Salmond in 2004 from his self-imposed exile in Westminster that led to the 2007 breakthrough. The Nationalist Party landslide in 2011 wasn’t a vote for independence as such; it was a reaction against Labour’s poor performance in Holyrood. So it’s not really that surprising that the Scots are having difficulty getting their heads round the implications of independence.

The Inconvenient Truth Salmond isn’t telling Scots

The SNP are only shouting half the story, some of the things they’re fairly silent on are :-

• Faslane will remain sovereign UK territory.
• Scottish regiments will be disbanded.
• £80bn would need to be paid back to the UK for the RBS bailout.
• Scotland could be out of the EU and therefore no bailout funds will be possible.
• Scotland would probably have to keep the pound; therefore they can't change their interest rates.

And this just scratches the surface. From what I’ve seen and heard, Alex Salmond is an egotist who is hell bent on Scottish independence, but with no thought of the consequences of going alone, he thinks that cherry picking the good bits of the union will be acceptable, I’m afraid not Mr Salmond you want independence then take it 100% or not at all.

Assets and Wealth

I think it would be a shame if Scotland were to vote to be independent. However if they do, Scotland should have what it owns - oil from its waters etc. It should also own its share of existing liabilities such as the toxic bank assets.

Admittedly, there are so many arguments and counter arguments about the consequences and the wealth generated both North and South of the border that it is very difficult to take an informed view. My gut feeling however is that Scotland is simply not productive enough or rich enough to afford everything their proposing such as the free tuition fees; free prescriptions and free elderly care. England can’t afford that, how will Scotland ?

Currency

Watching the debate on Newsnight last night, Nicola Sturgeon said they wanted to keep the pound as their currency. I just don't see how that works. If the Bank of England decides to change interest rates then the Scottish Government will be forced to do the same. This could severely affect their monetary policies? I think it would be totally unworkable for Scotland to retain the Pound as it would cause chaos in the remainder of the UK. Scotland should have either its own currency or the Euro. An independent country can’t have its currency controlled by another country. There is a precedent for this - the split of Czechoslovakia - the Czechs and the Slovaks had their own crown. The Slovak crown immediately dropped in value while the Czech crown rose slightly. The Slovaks now have the Euro.

And what about the EU?

Another item that needs proper answers I’m afraid. The SNP don't accept, or won't admit, that a separate Scottish state would have to apply to join the EU. Also one of the rules for applying to join the EU is that you have to adopt the Euro. That is the law, so it may not be within the choice of an independent Scotland. If they do join the EU would an independent Scotland simply inherit all the UK's obligations, opt-outs, international treaties and everything else? If so, I’m sure that’d be fine, if not then Scotland probably has a problem.

Energy

No not the oil reserves but renewable energy. Scotland by the very nature of its landscape has one the best renewable energy potentials in Europe, and the world. Scotland is only utilising a tiny fraction of this energy potential. In future, as technology progresses, Scotland could benefit a great deal from such dependable resources given the many negative issues with fossil fuels. But the Scots must pay for it. Wind farms are ideal. But I’m afraid you won’t continue to receive a £150k per wind farm subsidy from the UK anymore. Therefore this nationalist policy of 100% of electricity to be supplied from renewable sources will either have to be subsidised by the new Scottish government or your bills will go up about, ooh 652%. 

Other Issues

Aside from issues such as currency, EU membership and how Scotland will raise money on the international markets (credit rating etc) we still have no idea on how UK-wide infrastructure and institutions will change in an independent Scotland. Will they be retained with some kind of cross-border funding arrangement or will Scotland set up their own with the consequent loss of economies of scale ?

If Scotland does achieve independence there are many many other ‘small’ issues that probably haven’t even been considered. It will be interesting to see what will happen to passports, presumably Scottish Brits will be allowed to keep their UK passports until they expire then will need Scottish ones? It'll be expensive to set up embassies etc but no doubt details like those have all been costed & planned for by the nationalists? Would British Driving Licences still be valid ? Would there need to be border controls? Lots and lots of unanswered questions !

Idealistic Rhetoric

Listening to Salmond you'd think that after independence there would be no debt, no unemployment, no homelessness, no taxes, plenty of oil for ever at higher prices than there has ever been, no hospital waiting lists, no wait for GP appointments and 100 other pie in the sky wishes.

On the vote ‘Yes’ side, too many people are playing the Nation card in this debate, telling people that if they are or feel Scottish they have to vote ‘Yes’. Again this is debasing the actual question and the importance of it to us all. This important life changing vote should not be decided by flag waving and idealistic rhetoric but by critical thinking with the actual facts.

I suspect the Scots don’t really want independence, they just want a better deal, but not at the expense of a messy divorce. If they do wish to be independent then we should wish them well, however I fear they will regret their choice. Maybe they need to go it alone for a while, but I would feel really annoyed if they then wished to return to the UK cap in hand (which I think they would). In addition, Scotland shouldn't be allowed to pick and choose which aspects of being in GB they like, it should be independence or union, not some fudged up mix of the two.

Les Morts Dansant – We British Weren't Always Humanitarians

Way back in the late eighties and early nineties I was a big fan of a band called Magnum, some of you may remember them, they troubled the charts occasionally with some pretty good quality British rock, they were quite impressive live too. Anyway last weekend, for some reason (why? I don’t know), I decided to pull one of their CDs out and give it a play. Took me back, reminded me how good they were, made me wonder where they are now, usual nostalgia stuff that we all indulge in from time to time.

Les Morts Dansant – The Dancing Dead

One track though intrigued me, Les Morts Dansant (the French translates to ‘The Dancing Dead’). It’s probably the best track on the album and also one of the most poignant, moving tracks I’ve ever heard. It made me wonder exactly what it was all about. So I did a bit of ‘Googling’ and was surprised to find it to be about a particular nasty, shocking part of our military history that I suspect isn’t well known. So I though I’d tell it.

Next year sees the hundredth anniversary of the start of World War One often known as The Great War. They’ll be many events commemorating the war and the people who fought it. The story played out in ‘Les Morts Dansant’ though will probably be brushed under the carpet; it most certainly wasn’t the British’s greatest day.

Cannons roared in the valley they thundered
While the guns lit up the night
Then it rained and both sides wondered
Who is wrong and who is right

Atrocities in War

There have been many atrocities during warfare in the last hundred years; it’s not often though, that we commit them to ourselves. In World War One, the executions of 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers took place. Such executions still remain a source of controversy with some believing that many of those executed should be pardoned as they were simply suffering from shell shock. These executions were primarily of non-commissioned ranks.

On the wire like a ragged old scarecrow
Bloody hands and broken back
When they fire see him pirouette solo
Jump in time to the rat a tat

Today, we still recognise shell shock but now refer to it as post-traumatic stress disorder; we acknowledge and treat it as an illness. Back then though, our soldiers knew their king and country expected them to fight to the death. Such was the expectation of their military commanders, their political leaders and even their loved ones; there was no question that if mortal danger came, they should face it like men. It was the only way for good to triumph over evil.

Firing Squads

The Great War quickly became the most brutal war in history and not even the most seasoned servicemen were prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before them. For many the horror proved too much. Hundreds were unable to cope, many were driven insane and several simply ran away. There were those who suffered from severe shell shock. They could not stand the thought of being on the front line any longer and deserted, they were deemed to be traitors

The British army could no more afford to carry cowards than it could traitors, and once caught, many of those who did flee faced instant retribution with a court martial and death by a twelve man firing squad.

Those condemned to death usually had their sentences confirmed by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig on the evening following their court-martial. A chaplain was dispatched to spend the night in the cell with the condemned man and execution took place the following dawn, with some men facing their last moments drugged with morphine or alcohol.

When the time came, the offender was tied to a stake, a medical officer placed a square piece of white cloth or paper over the man's heart and a priest prayed for him. Then the firing line - usually made up of six soldiers - was given orders to shoot. One round was routinely blank and no soldier could be sure he had fired a fatal shot.

By the wall in a silhouette standing
Through a flash of sudden light
Cigarette from his mouth just hanging
Paper square to his heart pinned tight

Gather round reluctant marksmen
One of them to take his life

Immediately after the shooting, the medical officer would examine the man. If he was still alive, the officer in charge would finish him off with a revolver.

Deterrence

Senior military commanders would not accept a soldier’s failure to return to the front line as anything other than desertion. They also believed that if such behaviour was not harshly punished, others might be encouraged to do the same and the whole discipline of the British Army would collapse. Some men faced a court martial for other offences but the majority stood trial for desertion from their post, “fleeing in the face of the enemy”. A court martial itself was usually carried out with some speed and the execution followed shortly after.

What a night though it's one of seven
What a night for the dancing dead
What a night to be called to heaven
What a picture to fill your head

These Were Just Kids

Few soldiers wanted to be in a firing squad. Many were soldiers at a base camp recovering from wounds that still stopped them from fighting at the front but did not preclude them from firing a rifle. Some of those in firing squads were under the age of sixteen, as were some of those who were shot for ‘cowardice’.

James Crozier from Belfast was shot at dawn for desertion – he was just sixteen. Before his execution, Crozier was given so much rum that he passed out. He had to be carried, semi-conscious, to the place of execution. Officers at the execution later claimed that there was a very real fear that the men in the firing squad would disobey the order to shoot.

They dispatch their precious cargo
Knock him back right off his feet
And they pray may no one follow
Better still to face the beast

Private Abe Bevistein, aged sixteen, was also shot by firing squad at Labourse, near Calais. As with so many others cases, he had been found guilty of deserting his post. Just before his court martial, Bevistein wrote home to his mother:

"We were in the trenches. I was so cold I went out (and took shelter in a farm house). They took me to prison so I will have to go in front of the court. I will try my best to get out of it, so don't worry."

Outlawed and Putting Things Right

Not one of the executed soldiers would be shot today; the military death penalty was outlawed in 1930. Shell shock is now treated as the illness it is, though whether we give enough long term support to those suffering is debatable.

When the field has become a garden
And the wall has stood the test
Children play and the dogs run barking
Who would think or who would guess

It took over 90 years for these injustices to be partially rectified. A new law passed on the 8^th November, 2006 included as part of the Armed Forces Act the pardoning of men in the British and Commonwealth armies who were executed in World War One. The law removes the stain of dishonour with regards to executions on war records but it did not cancel out the sentences.

Magnum - Les Morts Dansant

Magnum’s track dates back to the eighties and was before the pardon. It is their tribute to the harrows of war and to the injustice of what happened, it’s their call for a pardon.

I found this video someone had made to accompany the track on YouTube, its worth watching as it brings home exactly what we did to our own soldiers all those years ago.

NB: Research for the above came from the historylearningsite.co.uk and from the BBC website.

A Bit of Cheese

A very different blog this week from the usual topical, political or musical musings. One of my other passions is food, with British Cheese being a particular favourite, I’m not into your foreign runny or smelly stuff, no, a good quality, traditionally made local cheese gets me everytime.

Did you know it’s British Cheese Week next week? Nope? Well neither did I until about an hour ago, so it does seem an opportune time to write on the subject. 

Heathens 

Despite the fact that research has shown that almost two thirds of adults claim that cheese is one of their favourite foods, the vast majority have no idea how many different types of cheese are made in this country.

Unbelievably, almost 99% of us have no idea how many cheeses are produced in Britain, almost 1 in 10 don't even know that milk is the main ingredient in cheese and the average, unadventurous Brit apparently only buy 2 types of cheese each month. It isn’t even as if foreign cheeses from France or Italy are catching our attention either, as Cheddar and Red Leicester continues to feed our staple needs.

But there’s so much good stuff on our doorsteps we don’t even know’s there. So for the people in my neck of the woods (ie the North West) I’d thought I’d let you know about some of my favourite, quality cheese that’s produced locally. Some of it you’ll find in the supermarket, some is bit trickier to track down, but it’s worth it when you do. So here goes: -

H.S BOURNE’S TRADITIONAL CHESHIRE

Probably the best Cheshire Cheese…Ever !!  This is award-winning handmade Cheshire cheese, made in Cheshire. The Bourne family has been making cheese in Cheshire for over 250 years. They milk their own cows and use their milk to make a range of traditional, full-flavoured cheeses, including cloth-bound. Unpasteurised and oak-smoked Cheshires; and a limited quantity of Blue Cheshire.

Not that struck on the blue cheese but these two are my all time favourites:

•  Mrs Bourne's Mature Cheshire. None of your bland dry taste of own brand supermarket Cheshire, this is a full-flavoured traditional Cheshire cheese, smooth textured and not crumbly, just the way it should be. This tastes superb!
• Tom Bourne's Oak Smoked Cheshire. Traditional Cheshire cheese, slowly smoked over oak chips to give a subtle and striking combination of flavours. An unusual but very appealing taste. Delicious!

 You can buy the range on-line at their website; however, I usually buy Bourne’s cheese from their own stall on High Legh Farmers Market, which is usually held on the first Sunday in the month, Well worth a visit!

MRS KIRKHAM’S TRADITIONAL LANCASHIRE

This is a traditional Lancashire cheese made by the Kirkham family in Goosnargh, Lancashire. The flavour is quite complex and is described on another website as a deep, mouth-filling mixture of citrus, lemony acidity with buttery, savoury richness. This sounds a bit odd but is about right.  The texture is a moist, buttery, breadcrumb-like crumble which somehow opens the flavour up even more.

My favourite in their range is Tasty Lancashire. A proper traditional Lancashire made from 3 days of milkings, clothbound and buttered and matured for around 3 months. An excellent table cheese, Tasty Lancashire come into its own when you use it to make a truly unforgettable cheese-on-toast.

You can buy Kirkham’s from supermarkets such as Booths. I’ve also bought it from the Farmer’s Market in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens.

DELAMERE DAIRY GOATS CHEESE

Goats cheese isn’t to everyone’s taste I know, but I love it. Delamere Dairy was founded nearly 30 years ago in 1985 by Roger and Liz Sutton in the heart of Delamere Forest. Their first herd consisted of only three goats, which they would hand milk to produce and sell goats cheese locally. At this time there was no market in the UK for goats milk and it was this 'gap in the market' that Delamere Dairy aimed to fill and boy did they fill it. Along with milk and yoghurt they produce one of the region’s best goats cheeses.

Delamere’s goats cheese products range from hard cheese, spreadable, creamy and even Greek style. My favourite though, has to be the Farmhouse Mature, Unmistakably tasty; this award-winning cheese has a full and nutty flavour.

The really good news about Delamere goats cheese is it’s available in many supermarkets, including Morrisons and Booths so no excuses for not trying it.

SNOWDONIA CHEESE COMPANY

From across the border in North Wales, the Snowdonia Cheese Company produces some of the best Cheddar not only in the region but that I’ve ever tasted. Forget your supermarket blocks of rubber cheddar, this is the dog’s bollocks of cheddar cheeses!!

Their high animal welfare standards lead to a high quality, tasty cheese that has won medals at the International and World Cheese Awards. Wonderful served with a crusty baguette and some good chutney and pickles - this is a cheese that has the strength of character to stand up to assertive flavours.

Their range is very diverse and includes smoked, pickled, ginger, chilli cheese and much much more. My favourite though has to be Black Bomber, the master of all Cheddars. Strong, creamy, long aftertaste, perfect on your cheese board. Leave to get to room temperature before you taste and you will not be disappointed. If you like strong cheddar with a fabulous bite then this really is the one.

You might have to hunt around a bit for this cheese, Red House Farm in Dunham is where I normally go and you can buy it on-line at Amazon if you want. One word of warning though, make sure you buy the right product as another company is tweaking the name and producing an inferior product. There is truly only one cheddar at this standard of flavour and texture and it’s Black Bomber

SADDLEWORTH CHEESE COMPANY

Famous as the company set up by Sean Wilson, who played Martin Platt in Coronation Street after he left the Street? There’s been a lot of hype about Sean’s cheese and the fact he pushes his own profile to publicise his product, but in his circumstances you would. None of this detracts from the fact he does have a very good product.

The range has a number of variations of Lancashire Cheese including, ‘How’s Yer Father’, a creamy fairly traditional Lancashire and ‘Muldoon’s Picnic’, a crumbly and again traditional Lancashire. ‘Mouth Almighty’ is a pretty good quality mature Lancashire, best of the bunch for me though is ‘Smelly Ha'peth’, a slightly nutty blue cheese with a hint of the sweetness of Gorgonzola.

Martin, sorry Sean has used his fame to get his products into a number of supermarkets including Asda and Morrisons so you shouldn’t have to go far to track them down.

BUTLERS FARMHOUSE CHEESES

Another award winning Lancashire cheese maker.  They recently celebrated a very successful International Cheese Awards taking home more trophies than any other cheese maker in the country with six gongs and an impressive 23 medals, including 11 golds. Butlers pride themselves on using their old family recipes, along with their traditional cheese making skills that take years to perfect and local Lancashire milk from our own farm.

Butlers have a diverse range of changes including standard fare such as Red Leicester and Double Gloucester, various Lancashire cheeses, then there’s the famous Blacksticks range which includes Blacksticks Blue, a strong tasting, but very palatable slightly soft, orange blue-veined cheese. My favourite though, happens to be Goosnargh Gold, a traditional rinded golden cheese, matured for up to eight months, has a rich and mature flavour with a buttery, caramel edge and a mellow, nutty bite, Sainsburys throw you off the scent a little by actually selling it on their cheese counters as Farmhouse Double Gloucester.

Most of the standard range of Butler’s cheeses are easy to track down being available in the likes of Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys and even Aldi ! So you’ve no excuse not to try them.

BURTS CHEESE

Last, but no means least amongst my favourite cheese is Burts Blue Cheese. Burt’s is a semi-soft blue made in Altrincham Cheshire, with quality locally sourced milk which seems to bring a richer flavour. The cheese is produced in tiny batches and is lovingly tended by cheese maker, Claire Burt during its maturation period.

You can buy Burts Blue Cheese from Harvey Nicks off whose website I’ve robbed their stunning description of the cheese. “The cheese is a semi-soft blue, which is slightly crumbly while young but gradually becomes meltingly soft with maturity. The paste is creamy, fresh and mild, with a lingering citrusy freshness and nutty complexity on the finish, whilst the rind imparts a tongue-tingling bitterness. Burt’s Blue is also very versatile, equally at home in rarebit, a blue cheese sauce, melted atop a burger, or better yet as the star attraction of your cheeseboard!”

Only downside to Burts is it’s not cheap, (usually about £6.50 per 250g) but it’s worth it. You can usually track it down in local deli’s and farm shops. I’ve bought it before from both Red House Farm in Dunham and the Hollies Farm shop at Tarporley.  

SO THERE WE HAVE IT

Whether you’re in the North-west or not, stop buying mass-produced blocks of tasteless rubberised cheddar from supermarkets and support your local producers. Alternatively put away a pound a week, then treat yourself at the end of the month to a slice of quality, you never know, you might actually like it.