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Tomlinson police officer to face manslaughter trial

2011-05-25T07:29:00.001Z

PC Simon Harwood will face criminal proceedings for striking newspaper vendor with a baton during G20 protests in 200Ian Tomlinson's family give their reaction to the decision to charge a G20 police officer with manslaughter Link to this video

A police officer will face trial for manslaughter over the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests.

PC Simon Harwood, 43, a Metropolitan police officer, will face a criminal prosecution for striking Tomlinson with a baton and pushing him to the ground in April 2009.

Tomlinson, 47, had been trying to make his way home from work through demonstrations near the Bank of England when he was pushed from behind. He collapsed and died three minutes later.

Three weeks ago an inquest jury decided Tomlinson was "unlawfully killed".

The director of public prosections, Keir Starmer, had announced in July last year that he did not believe there was sufficient evidence for a prosecution due to complications relating to medical evidence.

However, he said in a statement today that new information had emerged during the inquest and, while difficulties remained, he now believed there was sufficient evidence to bring criminal proceedings.

"Taking the evidence as it now stands, we have concluded that, even with those remaining difficulties, there is now sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of successfully prosecuting PC Simon Harwood for the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson," he said. "That being the case, it is clearly in the public interest that criminal proceedings be brought.

"Accordingly, a summons charging PC Harwood with the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson has been obtained from the City of Westminster magistrates court. He will appear before that court on 20 June 2011."

The DPP said the inquest had allowed "a degree of clarity" to emerge and had resolved some complications relating to medical evidence.

The judge presiding over the inquest as assistant deputy coroner had reminded jurors repeatedly that the five-week hearing was not a criminal trial or designed to apportion blame for Tomlinson's death.

Judge Peter Thornton QC said on the opening day of proceedings: "An inquest is very different from cases in other courts. Nobody is on trial. No organisation is on trial. You, as the jury, will not decide any question of criminal or civil liability. That is why you are a jury of 11, for example, a historically different number to a jury in criminal cases."

Jurors were told there were two possible explanations for Tomlinson's death. The first pathologist to examine his body, Dr Freddy Patel, concluded that he died of coronary artery disease.

However, three other forensic pathologists disagreed, concluding that he died of internal bleeding.

On 3 May, the inquest jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing", stating that Tomlinson died as a result of internal bleeding in the abdomen. The Crown Prosecution Service immediately said it would review its earlier decision not to bring criminal proceedings against Harwood.

In a detailed statement setting out the reversal of his earlier decision, Starmer said: "The difficulty facing any prosecution in relation to the death of Mr Tomlinson lies in the conflicting medical evidence about the cause of death. That difficulty remains.

"A criminal trial is different to an inquest and it is my duty to ensure that a prosecution is only brought where there is evidence available to the prosecution that provides a realistic prospect of a jury being able to satisfy themselves beyond reasonable doubt that an offence has been committed. For that reason very careful consideration is required where there is conflicting medical evidence.

"However, matters have moved on in two ways since the original decision was taken in this case. First, new medical evidence was presented at the inquest. Second, the various accounts and opinions given by the medical experts, including Dr Patel, were tested in extensive questioning at the inquest; this has changed the basis upon which the case falls to be considered."

The DPP indicated that the inquest process had itself been important. "But for the inquest, the significant conflicts in the evidence that had previously existed could not have been addressed; and the inquest process, which is less confined than a criminal trial, has allowed a degree of clarity to emerge."

He added: "We have considered the new evidence adduced at the inquest and the final positions adopted by the medical experts very carefully indeed.

"Having done so, we are satisfied that the position in relation to the medical evidence about the cause of death has clearly changed. The difficulties that would now confront any prosecution have changed in nature and scale from last year when a decision was taken not to prosecute, although it is clear that real difficulties remain."

Starmer reminded the media that care should be taken to avoid prejudicing criminal proceedings against Harwood. "He has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that nothing should be reported which could prejudice his trial."

Ian Tomlinson's son Paul King said in a statement on behalf of the family: "We welcome today's decision to bring a charge of manslaughter against the officer. We believe this is the right decision. What we have always wanted is to achieve justice for Ian and to show that police officers are not above the law."

Responding to the CPS decision, Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "This is clearly a very, very serious matter for all concerned.

"I have got to be very, very concerned at an inquest verdict that returns a verdict of unlawful killing involving, as the inquest did, one of my police officers. My sympathies continue to be with the Tomlinson family."

25th May, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/24/tomlinson-police-officer-manslaughter-trial

Migrants are a boon to UK economy, says study

2007-10-22T20:49:00.000Z

Dear Readers,

Here is the truth that the government seem to forget to inform everyone about regarding immigtaion.

Serendib

Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Wednesday October 17, 2007
Guardian

Migrants are more skilled and often more reliable and hardworking than British workers, and are fuelling the country's economic growth to the tune of £6bn a year, according to the first official study of their impact published yesterday.
The report for the government's Migration Impact Forum also concludes that migrants on average earn more and so pay more tax than UK workers.

The joint Treasury, Home Office and Work and Pensions study says that the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Polish and other east European workers has had "no discernible" impact on unemployment and has led to only a "modest dampening of wage growth" for British workers at the bottom end of the earnings league.

The economic study says 574,000 migrants came to live in Britain for the long term in the 12 months to June 2006; in the same period 385,000 left, giving a net inflow figure of 189,000 - down 28% compared with the previous year's net inflow of 262,000.

The forum meets today to discuss the findings and whether the restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarians coming to Britain should be lifted.

The first "regional" soundings by the government also published today show that in seven out of eight regions in England migration has caused pressure on housing and five out of eight regions report difficulties on crime and education.

However, the overwhelmingly positive official verdict of the economic and fiscal impact of the largest wave of migration to Britain in recent years is bound to prove highly controversial.

The shadow home secretary, David Davis, reacted to that verdict last night by accusing Labour ministers of ignoring the fact that relying on immigration to boost the economy was only a short-term answer.

The immigration minister, Liam Byrne, insisted, however, that the report demonstrated that Britain was better off with immigration than without it.

But he admitted that the pace of change, particularly in communities that do not have a history of absorbing large numbers of migrants, has been unsettling and has created challenges for public services and said it was time for a "new balance" in immigration policy.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330994146-115620,00.html

Nobel scientist snubbed after racism claims

2007-10-21T20:34:00.000Z

The Telegraph
By Stephen Adams
Last Updated: 3:01am BST 20/10/2007

The Science Museum last night cancelled a talk by Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson after he was accused of making “racist” comments implying Africans were not as intelligent as whites.

Dr Watson is no stranger to controversy
DNA pioneer Dr Watson, who discovered the double helix with Briton Francis Crick, has been roundly condemned for saying he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”.

The 79-year-old American was due to talk at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre on Friday but last night a spokesman said Dr Watson’s comments had gone “beyond the point of acceptable debate”

He announced the Musuem was cancelling the sold-out talk as a result.

On Tuesday night the Dana Centre had coincidentally hosted a debate entitled “Scientific Racism: A history”.

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Dr Watson, who flew into Britain to promote a new book, has also provoked uproar by saying the assumption that different racial groups shared “equal powers of reason” was backed by “no firm reason”.

His comments have been fiercely attacked by fellow scientists, anti-racism campaigners and politicians.

Neourobiologist Prof Steven Rose of the Open University, a founder member of the Society for Social Responsibility in Science, said such “racist” comments were also “genetic nonsense”.

“He should recognise that statements of this sort have racist functions and are to be deeply, deeply regretted,” he said.

“Making statements of that sort is certainly a great day for the British National Party but it’s a sad day for scientists and racial harmony.”

Dr Watson has courted controversy before, saying darker-skinned people have a higher sex drive and that women should hypothetically have the right to abort fetuses that “may have a tendency to become homosexual”.

He has also backed genetic screening.

Prof Stevens thought the 79-year-old American was stirring up trouble to raise publicity for his new book, entitled 'Avoid Boring People’.

He said: “He doesn’t need to do it. He had a distinguished reputation as a molecular biologist and he should keep out of areas in which he is not well qualified.”

No evidence that claimed to find people of African descent were less intelligent than Europeans or other racial groups had stood up to scientific scrutiny, he stressed.

Koku Adomdza, director of the black equality pressure group The 1990 Trust, labelled Dr Watson a “complete dinosaur” and pressed him to apologise to “Africa and all people of African origin”.

He said: “Dr Watson is really a relic of the oldest stock and deserves to be made to account for his extremely offensive and ignorant remarks.

“His very poisonously racist opinions put students and the unsuspecting public at serious risk.”

Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, commented: “It is sad to see a scientist of such achievement making such baseless, unscientific and extremely offensive comments. I am sure the scientific community will roundly reject what appear to be Dr Watson’s personal prejudices.

“These comments serve as a reminder of the attitudes which can still exists at the highest professional levels.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission, successor to the Commission for Racial Equality, said it was considering Dr Watson’s remarks “in full”.

The comments by Dr Watson, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 together with Britons Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, were first made in The Sunday Times.

Dr Watson was also quoted as saying that while he hoped all races were equal, “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.

He wrote that “there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically.

“Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so."

However, he said people should not discriminate racially, because “there are many people of colour who are very talented”.

He said he thought it would be 10 to 15 years before the genes for intelligence were identified.

Despite the fierce barracking received by those who have put forward the theory of a racial basis for intellectual difference, the idea has refused to die.

IQ testing has consistently shown that racial groups perform differently, say advocates.

In 1994 the publication of Richard Hernnstein and Charles Murray’s book The Bell Curve, that put forward evidence for the theory, caused a huge storm.

In March last year Leeds lecturer Dr Frank Ellis caused a furore when he said he found such evidence “extremely convincing”.

He refused to withdraw his comments, prompting a wider argument over freedom of academic thought. He resigned that July.

And last November Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, published a paper claiming African states were poor because their populations were less intelligent than Europeans and Asians.

Dr Kanazawa refused to comment on Dr Watson’s thoughts yesterday.

Both sides agree there is far more variation in intelligence and genetics within racial groups than between them.

However, opponents argue IQ tests are culturally biased and say lower average scores among blacks can also be explained by social rather than genetic factors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/17/nwatson217.xml

Police: stop more black suspects

2007-05-23T12:57:00.000Z

· Top black officer urges more searches to tackle gun and knife crime
· Call set to reignite racism row

Mark Townsend, crime correspondent
Sunday October 21, 2007
The Observer

One of Britain's leading black police officers is to demand that more people from ethnic minorities must be stopped and searched if the fight against inner-city gun and knife crime is to succeed.
In a speech that will reignite one of the most contentious issues in British policing, the president of the National Black Police Association will dramatically call for an increase in the policing strategy in black communities. It marks a U-turn by the association, which has previously questioned the high proportion of black people stopped and searched by police.

Speaking at the group's annual conference, Keith Jarrett will ask Police Minister Tony McNulty and Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to consider escalating stop-and-searches among black people to reduce the number of shootings that have claimed the lives of another two teenagers in the past week.
The disputed use of stop-and-search has arguably caused more conflict than any other modern policing tactic and first achieved national notoriety during the Eighties, when it was blamed for precipitating inner-city race riots. Black people are four times more likely to be stopped than white people, according to Scotland Yard's figures, which continues to give rise to charges of police racism.

Jarrett admitted he was braced for a negative backlash during his headline speech in Bristol last Wednesday. It is the first time that a senior black officer has called for an increase in stop-and-search among the black community.

Traditionally the association, which has 8,000 members ranging from senior figures such as Tarique Ghaffur, assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan police, to backroom staff, has pointed to the 'alarming' and disproportionate numbers of black people who are stopped and searched.

Jarrett told The Observer: 'From the return that I am getting from a lot of black people, they want to stop these killings, these knife crimes, and if it means their sons and daughters are going to be inconvenienced by being stopped by the police, so be it. I'm hoping we go down that road. I am going to be pressing him [Blair] to increase stop-and-search. It's not going to go down very well with my audience, many of whom are going to be black. We have talked about disproportionate use of stop-and-search in the past, but what I am proposing is quite the reverse. The black community is telling me that we have to have a look at this.' Controversially, Jarrett said he would not oppose a random use of stop-and-search when officers had 'reasonable suspicion' an offence had been committed. He argued that, as long as officers used the powers courteously and responsibly, many within the black community would accept it as a necessary evil. He added that the toll of shootings and knife crime meant that deep-seated misgivings over the policing strategy were being increasingly outweighed by fears over mounting violence.

The backlash was led last night by Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg, who said stop-and-search only 'increased community tensions and distrust in the police'.

He added: 'Effective policing depends on good intelligence and smart ways of fostering community co-operation. This suggestion points us in exactly the opposite direction and risks repeating all the worst mistakes of the past'.

Although widely viewed by senior officers as an effective policing tool, stop-and-search use was blamed for the 1985 Handsworth riots in Birmingham which erupted after the arrest of a black man. Its predecessor, the discredited 'sus law' which empowered the police to arrest any person they suspected of loitering with intent to commit an arrestable offence, was abolished after its widespread use against young black men sparked the 1981 Brixton riots.

In the wake of the south London uprising, new rules for stop-and-search determined that officers required 'reasonable suspicion' that an offence had been committed. Yet its use against the black community has continued to attract claims of racism.

Publication of the Macpherson Report in February 1999 into the murder of the teenager Stephen Lawrence, which found that police were institutionally racist, condemned the use of stop-and-search. Racial equality watchdogs have also threatened the police with legal action over stop-and-search, claiming its use has single-handedly poisoned relations with ethnic minorities.

Until Jarrett's speech this week, senior black and Asian officers publicly agreed that stop-and-search risked criminalising and alienating ethnic minorities. Last year Ghaffur warned that counter-terrorism laws, including an increased incidence of stop-and-search, had indirectly discriminated against Asians.

Nothing changes?

2007-05-19T09:29:00.000Z

In the new-fangled world of ID cards and DNA, police attitudes on race remain stuck in the past

Laura SmithTuesday May 15, 2007 The Guardian

Being in possession of a black or brown skin has never been much of an advantage when it comes to dealing with the criminal justice system. But figures released by the Home Office have revealed just how many from Britain's minorities are being targeted.

A quarter of those whose DNA details have been stored on the national police database after being arrested, but not charged or convicted, were black, Asian, Chinese or Middle Eastern. As these groups form 9% of the overall population, it means that innocent members of ethnic-minority communities are almost three times more likely than innocent white people to have details of their DNA on the database - and up to eight times more likely in rural areas such as Avon and Somerset.

These figures will confirm what minorities have known for a long time: that we are far less likely than white people to be allowed to go about our everyday business undisturbed. They will also reinforce the feeling that police find it hard to view members of ethnic minorities as anything other than suspect - even when they are demonstrably the victims of crime. The database also includes DNA samples from victims and witnesses who have given their "consent". One can only wonder how many white, affluent suburban dwellers are asked for a DNA swab after calling the local bobby to a break-in.

Such intrusions look set to become more common if the government pushes ahead with identity cards, due to come into force next year. While carrying a card will not be compulsory for Britons, it will be for non-EU nationals - handily covering the majority of non-white migrants. How many times will police officers fail to differentiate between a British or European-born black or Asian person and somebody who has arrived from outside the EU?

Despite a range of safeguards - and a great deal of hand-wringing since the Stephen Lawrence case - the police still routinely misuse their discretionary powers. Black people are five times more likely than whites to be stopped and searched - 14 times more likely in predominantly white suburbs. Stops of black people are more likely to involve searches, including strip searches, and to end in arrest. When police action is challenged further down the line, for example when the Crown Prosecution Service decides if cases are worth pursuing, those involving black people are more likely to break down. And the Home Office itself admits that only 10% of stops result in arrests, with only 5% leading to cautions or convictions.

A Home Office race equality impact assessment into identity cards reported that the chief concern of ethnic minorities was that the police would disproportionately demand to see their cards. "Education and training" of police officers - and other public- and private-sector employees - would be necessary. Yet, bizarrely, it concluded that the scheme would be "non-discriminatory" and promote good community relations, by improving citizens' faith that immigration rules were not being flouted.

When Tony Blair came to power a decade ago there was a sense of optimism about how the fraught relationship between black communities and the police might be healed. Here was a government committed at last to holding a public inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and the resulting report appeared to be a watershed.

It is heartbreaking, then, to see how little has changed as Blair resigns. Last year the Guardian revealed that the authorities currently hold the DNA profiles of nearly four in 10 black men in the UK - meaning that 40% of black husbands, sons and fathers have been tarnished as suspects for the rest of their lives. One wonders how long it will take for that proportion to reach 100%.

Home Office aware of NBPA issues in 2001

2007-05-19T09:11:00.000Z

Home Office aware of NBPA issues in 2001

Exclusive by Claire Haynes and Chris Herbert

THE Home Office knew about the problems with the National Black Police Association's accounting procedures as early as 2001, Police Review can reveal.

An internal Home Office letter sent from the department's audit and assurance unit to its police resources unit in August 2001 shows the Home Office found supporting documents relating to NBPA funding to be 'poor, incomplete and unreliable'.

The letter also says the Home Office's police resources unit 'acknowledges that the appropriate management of the funding arrangements for the NBPA were not in place'.

It added there was 'a high level of risk of poor value for money and irregularity' with regards to the association's funding. The letter also states it is unclear what the agreed overall budget for the NBPA in 1999/2000 should have been.

Despite being aware of the problems, the Home Office continued to increase the NBPA's funding each year up to a peak of £180,000 for 2006/07.

Last month, it froze the association's funding, pending another Home Office investigation into 'financial irregularities'. It is unclear whether the NBPA has ever submitted audited accounts (PR, 27 April).

The internal memo, obtained by Police Review, sets out the results of a Home Office review into the paperwork supporting the NBPA's funding during 1999/2000 and 2000/01.

The review also investigated the 'effectiveness' of the Home Office's 'management arrangements and internal controls' to do with the funding. It concluded there was 'insufficient accountability' for funds. The review was launched following meetings between the audit and assurance unit, and the Met's anti-corruption unit.

One of the other conclusions the report reached was that 'there was insufficient accountability for monies expended by the NBPA'.

Before May 1999, the Home Office did not formally fund the NBPA, but some payments were met before this date.

In May 1999, the then home secretary, Jack Straw, agreed initial funding of £45,000 and to meet the costs of a trip to the US by NBPA officials. The NBPA was formally launched in November 1999.

The Home Office review, launched in 2001, found no formal agreement between the NBPA and the Home Office of the detailed arrangements setting out the expectations and accountability requirements.

'Expected financial controls such as pre and post checks and the monitoring of activities were generally weak and ineffective', it said.

The letter continued to say the overall funding for the first year, initially set at £45,000, was increased on an 'ad hoc basis without proper evaluation of value for money considerations and was not assessed against well defined needs and that it would appear that detailed costings were not obtained'.

The letter recommends the NBPA put controls in place to better deal with the day-to-day management of the grant monies and added it needed to review its 'overall management arrangements' to ensure Home Office expectations were met.

An NBPA spokesman told Police Review this week the association had been unaware of the report mentioned in the Home Office letter until this February and therefore could not comment.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Auditors are now completing a review of the NBPA's accounts. We do not propose to comment on further details at this stage.'

JANE'S POLICE REVIEW COMMUNITY - MAY 25, 2007

Where next will they succeed?

2007-05-08T22:29:00.000Z

BNP seat in 'non-political' town

By Dickon Hooper BBC News

The BNP has its first councillor in the South West - and no votes have yet been cast.

Michael Simpkins, 47, is the new councillor for the Rudloe ward of Corsham Town Council, after no other contenders put themselves forward.

"I'm very pleased and looking forward to it," the married father-of-two said.
Sitting in north Wiltshire and just east of Bath, Corsham has a growing population of more than 12,000 residents.

Its council has historically been "non-political", with decisions taken in the best interests of the town.

Party politics is even banned in the chamber.

Indeed, less than half of the 24 candidates (for the 20 seats) declared a political allegiance on the nomination papers: four for Labour, three for the BNP and two Lib Dem.

The rest described themselves as independent, or left the box blank.

Mr Simpkins said he would follow in this tradition.

"Party politics don't come into it, he said.

"I am a local councillor and it is important to listen to what people want."

High parking charges and anti-social behaviour top this list, he insisted.

Other candidates cited the improvement of the leisure centre, reopening the railway station and the growing population.

This harmony is designed to work to everyone's advantage, but some candidates did express concern about how Mr Simpkins had been elected unopposed.

'Ignored and frustrated'

Labour candidate for the Pickwick ward, Chris Lynch said: "It is unfortunate when there is not more than one candidate. We will have to wait and see how he acts.
"It is up to him and up to the electors in four years' time."

Roy Jackson, Lib Dem candidate for Pickwick, said the election was a "surprise".

"One woman put in a nomination against him - but she is standing somewhere else now."

Although candidates can put themselves up for election in two wards, they can only stand in one.
"He was given a free ride. It is always good to see an election," Mr Jackson added.

But Allan Bosley, who is standing as an independent in Pickwick, said: "Anyone can stand and everyone has a right to stand."

Mr Bosley, who is also council chairman, said the authority only has a statutory duty to maintain a public cemetery and listen to requests for allotments.

Listening to what people want and reflecting it back up the chain is part of the council's duty.

The election of a BNP councillor shows people are not being listened to, Mr Bosley said.

"There are a range of views expressed here like everywhere. It tells me people feel ignored, particularly by central government... and frustrated."

Like Roy Jackson, Mr Bosley did not think the BNP councillor would change how the council was run.

And Dick Tonge, leader of the Conservative group in north Wiltshire, added: "The BNP will not exercise undue influence as they will be lone souls on a large council."

But the BNP is "growing" in Wiltshire, said Mr Simpkins, an ex-RAF policeman.

It is fronting three candidates in Corsham, two in Calne and four in the North Wiltshire District Council elections.

"We've got a bad name," he said. "My aim is to prove the BNP is not the two-headed monster people think it is.

"It's up to us to prove we're nice people."

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6582729.stmPublished: 2007/04/30 13:23:22 GMT© BBC MMVII

Tell us something new!

2007-05-08T15:00:00.000Z

Greater Manchester police investigates claim it has BNP members in ranks·

Off-duty colleagues said to have been at pub event· Force seizes CCTV footage of St George's Day incident

Vikram Dodd Tuesday May 8, 2007

Guardian

One of Britain's biggest police forces is investigating allegations that it has British National party members among its frontline officers, the Guardian has learned.

Greater Manchester police launched the investigation after complaints from its own officers, who say they saw colleagues at a BNP event to mark St George's Day.

The supporters of the extreme rightwing party had gathered outside a pub in Manchester city centre and police were called after complaints that they had turned rowdy.

The allegations are especially embarrassing for Greater Manchester police, (GMP) which was one of the forces whose trainee officers were caught making racist remarks by an undercover television programme. After the revelations in the BBC Secret Policeman documentary the force vowed to stamp out racism in the ranks.

The force says it has seized CCTV footage and its detectives will scour it frame by frame for evidence. The force vowed that any officer found to be a BNP member could be sacked. But the BNP claimed it has members among the force's ranks.

The incident happened at 4.30pm on April 23. Around 120 BNP supporters were reported to be milling around Sinclair's Oyster Bar, and were reported to be chanting abuse at passers by. Some were wearing T-shirts saying "Love Britain or Fuck off" and shouting BNP slogans. One officer present claims he saw a fellow officer wearing a BNP badge. Bar managers feared trouble and called police to help them clear away the BNP supporters.

The report that sparked the investigation came from an inspector sent to the scene to help quell the disturbance.

Police sources say the inspector does not claim he saw officers whom he recognised as part of the BNP group. His report relays allegations from other officers that they recognised some of the crowd as off duty policemen.

Senior GMP officers are sceptical of the claims of BNP members in their ranks. The force's initial reaction to the undercover footage obtained by the BBC of their trainee officers being racist, was to arrest the undercover reporter who obtained it.

Police officers are not allowed to be members of the BNP, which is widely seen as being racist and which has members with convictions for violence. The policy was passed by police chiefs three years ago. They say membership of the party is incompatible with officers' duties under race equality laws.

Ali Dizaei of the National Black Police Association, who is a chief superintendent in the Metropolitan police, called for an independent investigation: "It beggars belief that in today's police service we appear to have serving police officers who are members of the BNP."

He added: "These allegations must be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Police should now carry out an investigation of all police forces to find the extent of the problem which, if not addressed, will have significant impact on legitimacy of policing in the UK."

Chief Superintendent Terry Sweeney, head of the GMP's professional standards branch, said: "There is absolutely no evidence at this time to suggest that any GMP employees took part in the disturbance.

"GMP's professional standards branch received a report on May 2 from an officer who was present on April 23 and was concerned there may have been off-duty police employees in the vicinity.

"The officer did not see any GMP employees involved in the disturbance himself, but has rightly brought to our attention the information he received from other people. We will investigate this thoroughly to establish if any off-duty officers or staff were involved. If it emerges that any staff were part of the disturbance, we will take the strongest possible action. As part of the investigation, we have taken CCTV from the city centre and will be looking at it frame by frame.

"The chief constable has made it clear that BNP members are not welcome in the GMP. No police officer or member of police staff may be in the BNP and anyone found to be a member is likely to be dismissed."

Asked if there were serving police officers who were also BNP members, Phil Edwards, a spokesman for the extremist organisation, said: "I believe there are."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

Whilst the Police Service constantly hides behind the belief that its members are only representative of wider society then why is this so surprising? After a quarter of a century of experience in the service, I am surprised that so few officers are open about support of such a party.

Whilst the BNP is still a legitimate political party though I have difficulty in accepting a viewpoint that some form of ‘Inquisition’ into the service to root these officers and staff out should start.

Although I find the views of the BNP in the main abhorrent I have to accept that it is not unlawful to be a member of such a party hence a member of the service has every right to be supportive of this party in the same way that others are supportive of the Conservatives, New Labour and even the Liberals.

Of course if the staff members have breached either the Police Regulations or their employment contract in overtly supporting this party then perhaps things are different. I remember the charade over membership of the Freemasons a few years ago and how that quickly became farcical.

How about the Service just creating an environment that is completely at odds with people who hold such bigoted opinions rather than ‘closing the door after the horse has bolted’ so to speak? Although in this case I believe that there is many a foal hidden in the corners of the barn dressed up to look sweet and innocent.

Serendib

What can be done without devaluing others cultures?

2007-05-08T07:51:00.000Z

Britain's growing racial divide

By Vivian White BBC Panorama reporter

Panorama visits Blackburn in Lancashire to investigate how increased separation and segregation between Muslim Asians and whites is dividing communities.

Blackburn presents a stark example of a difficult, national problem.

For all the hopeful talk about "integration", "multiculturalism" and now "cohesion", the reality on the ground appears to be that Britain's Muslim Asian community and its white community have few points of contact, and that the white majority often feel they share little in common with the growing Muslim Asian minority.

Of course there are hopeful exceptions, but Blackburn - where Muslim Asians on the last census made up 24% of the population and whose local council takes the issue very seriously - demonstrates clearly what the problem is.

Anyone who goes to Blackburn's town centre, and takes a look around, will see that whites and Muslim Asians are sharing the shopping centre and that everyone is behaving perfectly courteously to each other.

So what's the problem? Well, look a bit more carefully, and you'll see that they are both here doing their shopping - but they're not shopping together.

They're nearly always shopping separately. And that's the typical pattern here.

Defined areas

There's very little casual, social association between whites and Muslim Asians. There's an obvious geographical separation.

The risk is of separate communities, and of people breathing the same air but walking past each other Jack Straw, Blackburn MP

The areas originally settled in the 60s by immigrants from Pakistan and India are clearly defined.

And in the other parts of town where the communities appear to be "mixed", there's little actual mixing.

Ted Cantle reported to the Home Office on "parallel lives" after the riots in Burnley, Oldham, and Bradford in 2001 (there were none in Blackburn).

He says of the town: "There is not just simply residential segregation, but there is separation in education, in social, cultural, faith, in virtually every aspect of their daily lives, employment too."

Complex factors

Blackburn's MP Jack Straw, a senior member of the government, puts it like this: "The risk is of separate communities, and of people breathing the same air but walking past each other."

The problem that Panorama observes cannot be simply dismissed as "racism", although there will be racists, inevitably, on both sides.

What differentiates the communities is not just skin colour but a more complex combination of race, religion, and language and culture, and these factors added together are a recipe for social separation.

And the phenomenon of so-called "white flight" is one result.

'White flight'

Blackburn's original Pakistani and Indian immigrants came to the town seeking work in the 60s in what was then the booming cotton industry.

There is some degree of separation or segregation in most towns and cities Ted Cantle Home Office report author

Many of them spoke little English and they settled together in the town, buying the cheap terraced housing they could afford.

So this then became an "Asian" area. And as their numbers have expanded they've become more prosperous and moved to other areas. But many whites have moved out in response. This is "white flight".

As some Asians see the process, when they seek to integrate and live with whites the whites avoid them.

Then, to add insult to injury, they complain that Asians don't integrate. An Asian talks about taking chocolates round to his white neighbours, who then avoid making eye contact with him.
"I don't know," he says, "I find that a little odd."

And Jack Straw says: "It's been striking in the last 10 months or so the number of Asian people who... have expressed resentment to me about how they feel they've been treated when they've moved into white schools, or moved into white areas."

Controversial issue

But as some whites see it, these new Asian neighbours bring too much change to the areas they move into.

I fear that my children will end up living like apartheid in South Africa Asian Blackburn resident
Local pubs close, different food is sold in the shops, and at school many of the pupils now come from homes where the language spoken may not be English.

Meanwhile more and more young Muslim women, not just in Blackburn, are wearing the veil - an issue already controversial and made even more so when Mr Straw described it last year as "visible statement of separation and of difference".

A white man, living in the same area, sums up the concerns many whites feel: "We're slowly getting swallowed up, and we're losing our identity.

"We should work more together," he says, "and keep the place as it is - English."

'Small pockets'

And, as Ted Cantle makes clear, separation and segregation is not just a problem for places like Blackburn.

"It exists as a problem, to some degree or other, throughout the country, and it may be in small pockets and neighbourhoods within larger cities like London and Birmingham and therefore not quite so evident.

"It might be whole boroughs or whole cities, but to some degree or another it exists. There is some degree of separation or segregation in most towns and cities."

Panorama deals openly in this programme with a topic many in both communities have been too nervous to discuss, although it's a discussion which the local council in Blackburn has itself promoted with its "100 Voices" dialogues.

The prospect, otherwise, is of even greater separation. A white Blackburnian says, regretfully: "You'll end up with Muslim Asian towns, you'll end up with white British towns."

An Asian Blackburnian agrees: "I fear that my children will end up living like apartheid in South Africa."

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/panorama/6631541.stmPublished: 2007/05/07 10:01:07 GMT© BBC MMVII

Celsius 7/7 by Michael Gove

2007-05-04T21:58:00.000Z

From The Times

May 2, 2007

The real darkness at the heart of Islamist terror

Michael Gove

Listen to any Radio 4 discussion on what motivates terrorists, and the same consensus is usually reached – it’s foreign policy, stupid. Bush and Blair, Iraq and Afghanistan, the West’s misguided interventions in the Muslim world, that’s what inflames young hearts with righteous anger, an anger which our leaders have allowed to become a killing rage.

Pay attention to the conversation of intellectuals, commentators and many self-proclaimed community leaders and the same message is amplified and elaborated. William Dalrymple warns us that ill-considered interventions provoke those who have hitherto been pious and peace-loving into taking up arms. John Humphrys tells the Prime Minister, as though it were an established fact, that the 7/7 bombings took place “because of Iraq”. The Muslim Council of Britain greeted news of the plot to bomb British tourists out of the sky last summer with an open letter to the Prime Minister asking him to “change our foreign policy”.

The degree of consensus is impressive. What a pity it’s not supported by the facts.

The reporting of the Operation Crevice trial has revealed much more than just the failings of the intelligence and security services. It has also reminded those with eyes to see of the real darkness at the heart of Islamist terror. Were the targets they chose symbols of Western foreign policy adventurism? Or was there another reason for their choosing to fantasise about mass murder in a shopping mall and a nightclub? Why did they choose to single out not our foreign ministry but the Ministry of Sound? And why, when they were enjoying the thought of murder on the dancefloor, did one of their number say, “No one can turn around and say, ‘Oh, they were innocent’, those slags dancing around. Do you understand what I mean?”

Unfortunately, all too many do not understand what Jawab Akbar did mean. Because so many of those who choose to comment on terrorism, its roots, motivations and methods, fail to understand the ideology that drives and justifies these actions. I have explored that ideology, Islamism, in a book, Celsius 7/7, which has just been republished. And in the course of my exploration it became clear that the ideological motivation for the terrorist threat we face is an austere and pitiless twisting of Islam that offers young men redemption through violence, and the opportunity to exalt themselves by purging the world of the impure.

Just as the ardent young followers of Hitler in 1930s Germany were offered membership of an elite, a sense of special self-belief and a tempting opportunity to give vent to their resentments and frustrations through violence against those who were “impure” in racial terms, so today’s Islamist extremists are offered the same bewitching path, with the focus of violence being those who are “impure” in ideological and cultural terms. The impure, the targets for slaughter, we now know, are not just “apostates” who mock Islam, such as Salman Rushdie or the Danish cartoonists, nor are they even the architects of foreign policy adventures – the Bushes and Blairs, Reids and Rumsfelds, they are the clubbers and shoppers of modern Britain – in the eyes of the Islamist killers we are all slags, none of us innocent. That is the ugly, and troubling, truth which there should be no dancing around.

And yet, and yet. Few of those who rush to provide explanations for why these young men act as they do have troubled to study the thoughts and writings of their guides and mentors. The works of the founding fathers of Islamism, such as the Egyptian activist Sayyid Qutb, lay bare an antipathy towards the West, its culture, its freedom, its sexual liberties and the very idea of equality between the sexes. For Qutb and other Islamist thinkers the ideal goal is a world in which every action is governed by submission to an impersonal and unforgiving god. As his fellow Islamist ideologue Abul Ala Mawdudi argued, the goal is “a state [where] no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private. The Islamic state bears a kind of resemblance to the Fascist and Communist states”.

And because those who follow Islamism are in thrall to a totalitarian world-view, like Fascism and Communism, the actions of others are always viewed through the skewed perspective of a narrow faith. And so whatever we do, unless it’s in conformity with their extremist vision, is provocative. If we support the right of women to choose what they wear, we are not respected for our tolerance towards all, we are damned for allowing licentiousness. And when it comes to foreign policy, when we choose not to intervene, when we decide that we shan’t get involved, whether in Bosnia, Chechnya or Kashmir, we are not respected for our modesty and restraint on the world stage. We are damned again, for not acting in accordance with Islamist ambitions.

Against this challenge there really is only one appropriate response – a determination to do what we know to be right in defiance of the demands of men and women who exalt in slaughter. If we changed our society to make ourselves less offensive to the extremists that would not be prudent politics. It would be submission.

Michael Gove
Michael Gove is Conservative MP for Surrey Heath. He worked on The Times from 1995-2005. He makes regular appearances on BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze and The Late Review on BBC2, and has written a biography of Michael Portillo

What will this mean for the UNION & will any of it mean a thing to the oppressed of the UK?

2007-05-04T19:23:00.000Z

SNP beats Labour in Scottish poll

The SNP has surged to historic victory over Labour and become the Scottish Parliament's largest party on a gloomy final election day for Tony Blair.

The Scottish election, marred by huge problems with voting systems, showed "that the wind of change is blowing", according to SNP leader Alex Salmond.

In Wales Labour lost three seats but remains the largest party. In England the Conservatives made big gains.

Mr Blair said the results were better than "the rout" that had been expected.

BBC projections based on the English council results put the Conservative share of the vote at 40%, the same as last year, with Labour on 27%, one point up, and the Lib Dems down one point at 26%.

Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said he had always known the elections would be "tough" and called the results a "mixed bag" for his party.

The Tories, who have gained more than 870 extra councillors in England, say they are now on course to win the next general election.

'Take a hit'

But Mr Blair, who is due to announce a date for standing down next week, told the BBC: "People thought it was going to be a rout and it's not turned out like that.

"You always take a hit mid-term, but these results provide a perfectly good springboard to win in the general election."

His likely successor as Labour leader and PM, Gordon Brown, issued a statement promising to "listen and...learn".

In Scotland the counting process was complicated by an unprecedented number of spoilt ballot papers - predicted to be as many as 100,000 - with voters and counting machines struggling to come to terms with complex ballot papers.

The Electoral Commission has launched "a full independent review of the elections" into the chaos.

In the Scottish Parliament, the SNP won 47 of the 129 seats, compared with Labour's 46.
The Tories won 17, the Lib Dems 16, the Greens two, with independent Margo MacDonald also re-elected.

SNP leader Alex Salmond said Labour had lost its "moral authority" to govern and promised a "full judicial inquiry" into the vote-counting "debacle" if he becomes first minister. He added: "Scotland has changed for good and forever. There may be Labour governments and first ministers in decades still to come, never again will the Labour Party think it has a divine right to government."

Welsh assembly

Mr Salmond will now seek to form a ruling coalition. The maths mean three parties will be needed to form a majority.

Labour's Jack McConnell, who was hoping to remain as first minister, had earlier told his supporters it had been the "toughest and most hotly contested election in Scottish history".

And Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, asked on Thursday morning if he would consider forming a coalition with the SNP if they insisted on holding a referendum on independence, said: "Absolutely not ... We are against independence, that's our position and it ain't going to change."

“The Conservative Party is really where it should be at the moment and I'm very pleased about that” David Cameron Conservative leader

In Wales, Labour remains the largest party in the assembly but it has fallen short of the 30 seats needed for a majority, with both the Tories and Plaid making gains.

Labour has 26 seats, down three, Plaid has 15, up three, while the Tories remain with 12, the Lib Dems six and other parties one.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: "I feel very upbeat about the situation of Welsh Labour and our relationship with the people."

But Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said the electorate had "voted for change".

In England, the Tories increased their tally of local authorities - including Plymouth, Chester and Blackpool - and claimed the scene had been set for general election victory.

Robinson's verdict

Tory leader David Cameron said his party, which has gained at least 870 more councillors, had secured a "stunning" set of results, especially in the north of England.

"We're the one national party speaking up for all of Britain... I think we can really build from this point, really go forward... the Conservative Party is really where it should be at the moment and I'm very pleased about that," he said.

“A bad night for Labour - an even worse one for democracy” BBC political editor Nick Robinson

Home Secretary John Reid said of the Tories: "They are in a much stronger position under David Cameron than they were under Michael Howard, Iain Duncan Smith or William Hague.
"But that doesn't make them league leaders."

BBC political editor Nick Robinson, assessing the picture across Britain, said: "By any conventional measure, if we look at Labour and don't think about their opponents, this is pretty dire."

He added that politics was a "comparative business", with Labour supporters maintaining the hope that the Tories "aren't far enough ahead to guarantee their victory" at a general election.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6620905.stmPublished: 2007/05/04 18:37:22 GMT© BBC MMVII

Tough on crime, but not so tough though on the causes of crime!

2007-05-04T19:11:00.000Z

Report finds 'economic apartheid'

Vikram Dodd

Monday April 30, 2007

GuardianEthnic minorities suffer from economic "apartheid" in Britain, race watchdogs have claimed after a study found that two-thirds of Pakistani and Bangladeshi children are living in poverty.

The study, by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, reveals that ethnic minorities suffer twice the level of poverty of white Britons, as discrimination and disadvantage blight their life chances.
Analysing official figures, the foundation found vast differences in child poverty among different groups. One in four white children live in poverty, compared with 74% of Bangladeshi children, 60% of Pakistani children, and 56% of black African children. Even for children of Indian parents, a group thought to be doing well economically, the rate was higher than for whites, with one in three growing up in households with incomes below the government's definition of poverty.

Kay Hampton, who chairs the Commission for Racial Equality, said: "This research tells us a shocking story, an invisible apartheid separating modern Britain. It is a sad truth that a baby born today will have their future dictated by their race, not their abilities or efforts."

Ethnic minority groups are also being overlooked for jobs and paid lower wages. Qualifications such as university degrees are no protection against job discrimination. According to the report, "all the evidence suggests that employer discrimination exists and plays a significant role experienced in the 'ethnic penalty' experienced by members of minority ethnic groups".

The study show that Britons of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin are stuck at the bottom of the wealth league table. While discrimination is one factor, others include the fact that few women have paid employment. Guy Palmer, one of the study's authors, said: "Where Pakistanis and Bangladeshis work one adult is earning - typically the man, supporting two adults and two to three children."

The study finds that many Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are paid so little they are still classed as poor. "Income poverty" traps one in nine whites, but six out of 10 Bangladeshis, four out of 10 Pakistanis and three out of 10 Britons of black African heritage.

Colette Marshall, UK director of Save the Children, said poverty must be tackled with greater investment in benefits, better childcare to help mothers work, decent wages, and targeted investment in education.

Jim Murphy, minister for employment and welfare reform, said: "As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has acknowledged, the lives of ethnic minority groups have improved over the last decade. We have helped an additional quarter of a million people from ethnic minorities move into work over the last few years and the employment rate has risen to 60% in the last three years. But we are aware that more needs to be done."

SocietyGuardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

Racial tension in schools

2007-05-04T15:27:00.000Z

New study will help tackle racial tension

A STUDY aimed at tackling racial tension in schools has begun, after Blackburn and Burnley were identified as being among the country's most divided areas.

More than 3,000 Muslim and non-Muslim young people in Blackburn will be asked to give their views on Muslims and Islam as part of the project.

The pilot scheme, believed to be the first of this scale in the country, has been launched by the Blackburn-based Ethnic Minority Development Agency (EMDA).

It follows the release of government report The State of Our Cities, which lists Blackburn and Burnley as some of the country's most racially divided boroughs.

EMDA fears that the proposed changes in education in Blackburn as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme could result in increased segregation and problems if the issue was not directly tackled.

And it is hoped the work will help avoid some of the problems created by BSF in Burnley.
Chief executive officer of EMDA Janaid Qureshi said the survey aimed to get to the root of what drives the attitudes that create divisions.

Mr Qureshi said: "Today's young people are tomorrow's rulers, and we need to know their views about Muslims. The issue of the veil made many people feel uncomfortable.

"This survey is an attempt to find out what is behind that. Young people often tell it how it is - so the results may be challenging."

EMDA put together the questionnaire with a team of psychologists from York St John's University.

Blackburn came top in a list of racially segregated communities in the UK, while Burnley was the third most divided.

Mr Qureshi said schools and colleges play a vital role in exploring the problem, as this is where most young people form their opinions. The BSF programme plans to create three super schools', mixing white and Asian pupils, but "we have no idea about the consequences in terms of pre-existing prejudices of both groups."

Changes wrought by the BSF £250million programme in Burnley and Pendle have not been without their problems. In September, 11 existing secondary schools were replaced by eight "super-schools", including Burnley Schools' Sixth Form, a new multi-faith community college merging sixth forms at Catholic St Theodore's, and Habergham High School, in a bid to encourage integration.

Heads of the new schools admitted that the transition has not been easy.
More than 3,000 students in years 7, 10 and 12 will be surveyed in the next month.
Questionnaires will be administered by teachers at Pleckgate, Beardwood, St Wilfred's, Witton Park, and St Mary's and Blackburn Colleges.

EMDA's "Race, Religion and Culture" questionnaire asks for teenagers' views on religion and race, friends, neighbourhood and community, dress, politics, and bullying. The study will also be carried out in Yorkshire boroughs Kirklees and York.

By Deborah Lewis

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1368407.0.new_study_will_help_tackle_racial_tension.php

It is a sad fact that this information was freely available to ALL the statutory agencies almost three years ago as a result of the Community Cohesion research conducted by all the local statutory agencies which included the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister. Why has it taken this amount of time for questions to be asked? Of course the original report was embargoed by the local education authority so that may have been a reason, but educationalist, police and other agencies were aware of the findings. It would appear that the LEA were not overly pleased for everyone to know that ethnic segregation was very much a part of the school lives for the young even in ethnically mixed schools.

Serendib

It's official Britsh Muslims are second class citizens!

2007-05-03T15:10:00.000Z

US 'wants British Pakistanis to have entry visas'

Matt Weaver
Wednesday May 2, 2007

Guardian Unlimited

The American government wants to impose travel restrictions on British citizens of Pakistani origin because of concerns about terrorism, according to a report today.
In talks with the British government, the US homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, called for British Pakistanis to apply for a visa before travelling to the US, according to the New York Times.

The newspaper claimed that US officials were concerned about the number of terrorist plots in Britain involving citizens with ties to Pakistan.

But today the Foreign Office made it clear would resist the idea. It said it would oppose any attempt to exclude particular ethnic groups from the US visa waiver scheme that allows citizens from 27 countries, including the UK, to travel to the US without a visa for up to 90 days.

A spokesman said: "We are in close touch with the US about entry clearance, and they are aware of our view that changes to the visa waiver programme could cause economic damage to both our countries without materially enhancing the security controls over immigration."

He added: "The Muslim community in the UK, including those of Pakistani origin, are an important part of our society and we would oppose strongly any proposal to single them out in response to the actions of terrorists. Furthermore, we will oppose any measure based on broad categories of religious, ethnic or other criteria, and will continue to emphasise the importance of the current risk-based approach."

Mohammad Sarwar, the Labour MP for Glasgow Central, described the proposal as "unbelievable and shocking. Every British citizen must have the same rights. I don't think America has any right to interfere in this way."

Mr Sarwar, who was born in Pakistan and became Britain's first Muslim MP in 1997, urged ministers to reject the idea.

Ahmed Versi, the editor of Muslim News, agreed. He said: "They [the Americans] are trying to paint the whole Muslim community with the same brush. It's racist. There would be a huge outcry from all Muslims whether they are Pakistani or not."

He pointed out that many British Muslims were already put off from the travelling to the US for fear of the unwelcome reception they would receive.

The report of America's concerns follows the conviction earlier this week of five British men for planning a series of attacks across the UK. Four of them were of Pakistani origin. But according to the New York Times, talks on travel restrictions for British Pakistanis have been taking place for some "months".

Last month, Mr Chertoff held talks with the home secretary, John Reid. It is believed they discussed the visa waiver scheme that allows citizens from 27 countries, including the UK, to travel to the US without a visa for up to 90 days.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph on the eve of the talks, Mr Chertoff said: "We need to build layers of protection, and I don't think we totally want to rely upon the fact that a foreign government is going to know that one of their citizens is suspicious and is going to be coming here."

At the time he did not mentioned restrictions on British Pakistani, but he expressed concern that the terrorist such as the July 7 bombers, three of whom were of Pakistani origin, could have used the visa waiver scheme to enter America.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

Not again? What does this guy have to go through

2007-05-03T14:56:00.000Z

'Victimised' over hate mail case

An Asian officer has told a tribunal he has suffered race discrimination and victimisation after being cleared of sending racist mail.

Det Sgt Gurpal Virdi, 48, is suing the Metropolitan Police after he was turned down for promotion in 2005.

Mr Virdi won damages and an apology from the Met in 2002 after he was wrongly accused of sending racist mail at a police station in west London. He believes his previous claims mean he has been treated "less favourably."

Career halted

He told a hearing at Kingsway Employment Tribunal in central London he still suffered "fall out" from the hate mail investigation.

"Almost every time there is an article regarding me in the national press or internal publication, I receive hate mail," he said.

While his initial application for the inspector's position was approved, it was later rejected by a review panel, the tribunal heard.

The review panel's decision was subsequently upheld by an appeal panel in June 2005.
Mr Virdi claims the Met failed "to ensure that I would not be treated less favourably in light of my previous employment tribunal claims."

"My career has been halted," he told the tribunal.

"It has been five years since my return to the [Met] and even now I have not been allowed to achieve a substantive promotion...despite my best efforts."

'Considered on merit'

Police lawyers maintain Mr Virdi's application was considered "entirely on its merits based on the evidence of suitability he supplied as required by the process".

They argue he did not suffer prejudice because of his race and personal history of bringing employment tribunal actions against the force.

"The Metropolitan Police Service considers it has done everything possible to assist Det Sgt Virdi in his development and to assist his pursuit of promotion," said a police spokesman.
The case continues.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/6600303.stmPublished: 2007/04/27 15:09:47 GMT

I have had the honour of meeting Gurpal Virdi on a number of occasions. He is a good and decent man who just wants to do what he does best, that is be an operational 'Bobby'.

Like so many other Black and Asian Police staff in the country he has suffered the intolerance of bigotry, unfortunately for him he chose that ‘enough was enough’ and stood up and fought against the unjustness that he had experienced.

So what does the Service do? Does it accept that it has got things wrong and then corrects them or does it continue a relentless campaign against this officer? Well it would appear that the latter was chosen and Gurpal Virdi will continue to suffer.

No wonder most Black and Asian staff within the Police choose to remain quiet or worst still actually collude with their oppressors. I find it strange that the ‘illustrious’ National Black Police Association have actually never publically campaigned on behalf Gurpal Virdi, but have attempted to hijack his issues to highlight unjust behaviour in the Police.

Serendib

Living in Fear of the ‘Saracen Hordes’

2007-05-02T14:33:00.000Z

Islamic Fundamentalism vs. Extremism

A visitor to Douai Abbey in the heart of Royal Berkshire is struck by the tranquillity and peace that envelopes the surroundings. There monks will be found in silent contemplation of their faith in the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. These monks are considered as harmless followers and exponents of the basic tenets that teach compassion and harmony in a world where peace is hard to find.

Still in the Royal County, just a few miles away, in central Reading followers of the Prophet Mohammed meet at their local mosque just a few hundred metres from the town’s busy commercial centre (seated on the floor in a reburbuished victorian terrace). They too are engaged in silent contemplation of the basic precepts of their faith, which is also seeking compassion and harmony in a world where peace is hard to find.

What is the difference between these two pictures, with the exception of the obvious affluence related to Douai Abbey and its well manicured gardens as opposed to the economic deprivation experienced by those living within sight of the mosque and the traffic-congested streets?

Both groups are following the basic code of belief of their specific faith with the intention of greater spiritual and intellectual development, yet the latter worshipers live in fear of accusations of what has now been termed ‘Fundamentalism’ and all that is conjures up since September 11th 2001.

To some Fundamentalism is the broad-based but diverse religious movement that has swept across the Muslim world, from North Africa to Southeast Asia, during the past two decades.
It can be reasonably stated that fundamentalism is merely the re-evaluation of one’s faith and a desire to return to a more basic approach where life is centred on the power of prayer and seeking heavenly rewards through personal peaceful efforts. This change of approach is to counter the onslaught of what some may believe to be the demise of family values and ethics brought about by the ever increasing Westernisation and its exploitation.

In the world of the late twentieth and into the dawn of the twenty first century contemporary Islamic fundamentalism has manifested itself in personal and political life, from greater emphasis on religious observances such as prayer, fasting, Islamic dress, and family values to reassertion of Islam in politics.

Not only has Islam seen a resurgence in what may be considered as its home in the Middle Eastern countries, but also in Western Countries second and third generation descendants of South Asian migrants as well as many African and African Caribbean youngsters have sought solace and personal identity in re-affirming their faith in this worldwide fellowship that has no gender, ethnic or cultural barriers.

The term ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, while commonly used, is misleading. The term fundamentalism is laden with Christian presuppositions and Western stereotypes, and it implies a monolithic threat. If fundamentalism means the acceptance of the primary tenets of Islam then the modern interpretation is somewhat insulting as it is generally used to identify individuals or groups that are hostile to specifically Western Countries and their capitalistic ethos.

In Western Europe the same term and would not be used to identify similar spiritual followers of the primary tenets of Christianity whilst going about their contemplations in a monastery in Exmoor or the depths of Wiltshire. More useful perhaps are the terms Islamic revivalism and Islamic activism, which are less value-laden and have roots within traditions of political reform and social activism.

For a considerable number of Muslims, the resurgence of Islam is a reassertion of their cultural identity, formal religious observance, family values, and morality. The establishment of an Islamic society is seen as requiring a personal and social transformation that is a prerequisite for a true Islamic government. If effective change is to come then it will come from below through a gradual social transformation brought about and assisted by the implementation of Islamic law.

On the other hand, a significant minority of quasi-Islamic followers view some of the societies and governments in the Muslim countries as hopelessly corrupt. They believe that un-Islamic societies and their leaders are no better than infidels and that the religious establishment has been co-opted by the government.

Such critics believe in some more extreme cases that both established political and religious elites must be overthrown and a ‘new’ Islamic law imposed. These radical revolutionary groups, though relatively small in membership, have proved effective in political agitation, disruption, and in some cases assassination. They have not, however, been successful in mobilising the masses.

From a Western perspective it could be said that the well publicised countries that claim to be hard-line ‘Islamic States’ are arguably held together more through political and military dictatorship rather than any widespread ecumenical belief system. Such societies have historically been seen to naturally fall through internal means rather than any external pressure.

What does mean in the UK today?

It is vitally important that the United Kingdom Police service itself does not, by acting upon inappropriate thought processes, or using negative language and behaviour, fall foul of playing into the hands of those who wish to besmirch both the followers of Islam and the Muslim world in general. The media is keen to show that the

‘Saracen’ hordes are waiting to sweep in from the East and destroy Christendom. This will only lead the Service into becoming more isolated from certain groups who already (through the inherent quasi-Christian ‘British’ racism, economic, social deprivation and exclusion) find themselves estranged from mainstream society.

By further demonising the Islamic World, western society is in fact giving a genuine reason for some to actually turn towards certain extremist groups with either their verbal and intellectual support or in the minority of cases to actually give physical support when called upon. Many within western society are not even aware that it is they who are victims of the ‘Medieval’ anti-Islamic biases of their fore parents, who without conscious knowledge still fear the sacking of Jerusalem and a return to the ‘Dark Ages’.

With such rampant bigotry and disgraceful attitudes shown towards Islam and Muslims especially on the part of many western policy-makers and opinion-formers, someone has to take the initiative to correct the situation.

Perhaps it is time for the benefit of all people within the West to shed this ‘Medieval’ cloak of bigotry that they have towards Islam and still wear, and rather learn to appreciate what Islam has given to the World in the form of the Sciences, Literature and the Arts. It was in fact the Islamic World that established the first universities not just for pious study, but actually where Medicine, Politics, Philosophy and Economics were studied and the knowledge was further enhanced for the benefit of all.

If Western society and specifically the UK also then further empowers those people who are placed and kept within the most deprived groupings and they are actually accorded the opportunity for their voices to be genuinely heard then extremism will find it difficult to establish a firm base of support.

This inclusive stance has no ethnocentric basis as extremism is certainly not just in the sole ownership of Muslims and other visible minority groups within society, but also of the indigenous white European majority. Rather than being the source of fear and trepidation, Islamic fundamentalism rather supports and seeks peaceful means of change within society through intellectual and spiritual development.

Although it is not the sole responsibility of the Police service to undertake this task, it has become, over the past two decades since the Scarman Report of 1981, the legal and moral duty of the service to become an influencer for change within wider society.

Unless all the peoples of a nation and especially its youth feel valued and their concerns are listened to then we will see a continued growth in the numbers of young people mainly believing that they will find their identity and a fellowship amongst the extremist groups that use elements of a faith to attract, hold on to and ultimately control their membership.

There is yet hope as people in the West are starting to question their ‘Leaders’ statements and proposed actions as seen by the recent ‘Peace’ marches held in many ‘Western’ capitals. Why are so many people verbally and physically demonstrating their defence of their Muslim Brothers and Sisters? It could be that many within the West have matured as a result of the ‘Western European’ inhumane actions that the world experienced in the twentieth century and realise that it is only a matter of time before the pendulum swings again and that they may be the next target of the of those who wish to invoke mass hysteria and fear for their own personal and immoral reasons.

Pastor Martin Niemoeller a World War 1 U-Boat Captain and Hero once wrote of the Nazi regime “In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

Rather than fear Islamic fundamentalism, the West perhaps may benefit from listening to what it is saying and will without doubt hear something of note and value for its own use and further development, likewise the monks at Douai Abbey could also teach us all a thing or two to aid us in these troubled times. Respect for other faiths and cultures engenders respect and inclusiveness, thus reducing any ground swell support for extremisms.

Wise words from a "Simple Monk"

2007-05-02T14:29:00.000Z

Dalai Lama's Message:

· Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

· When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

· Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect for others and responsibility for all your actions.

· Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

· Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

· Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

· When you realise you've made a mistake; take immediate steps to correct it.

· Spend some time alone every day.

· Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values.

· Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

· Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

· A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

· In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

· Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

· Be gentle with the earth.

· Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

· Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

· Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

· Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

A constant reminder from history!

2007-05-02T14:05:00.000Z

Black communities say govt must make reparations for its role in slavery. Black communities feel that there should be a Parliamentary Commission on the chattel enslavement of African peoples and that the government should make reparations for its role in slavery, according to a new survey. Deborah Gabriel http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=2423&c=slavery

Majority surveyed dissatisfied with the way the Bicentenary is being commemorated

Something needs to be done to resolve the past, to get closure. JanetteBlack communities feel that there should be a Parliamentary Commission on the chattel enslavement of African peoples and that the government should make reparations for its role in slavery, according to a new survey.

“Something needs to be done to resolve the past, to get closure,” said Janette, who feels that the British government should hold a Parliamentary Commission on Truth, Justice and Reconciliation.

Her view is shared by that of Letticia, who said “There are issues that need to be sorted out. We can only put this behind us once there is reconciliation.” Ralph, 47, also agreed that a Parliamentary Commission “would help towards healing.”

A survey was carried out by Imani Media Ltd to examine attitudes within the black community towards slavery and the Bicentenary. It follows the commemorative service held at Westminster Abbey last month, where inside the church, Toyin Agbetu of Ligali, protested, calling it “an insult to Africans.”

Whilst the service was going on, outside Westminster Abbey, a group of protesters representing various community organisations and social justice movements called for the posthumous glorification of abolitionists and freedom fighters such as Rev. Paul Bogle in Jamaica, who was executed for staging the Morant Bay Rebellion in October 1865.

Of those surveyed, 64 per cent said that they most associate abolition with Africans. Only 12 per cent said that they associated abolition with the British government and just 4 per cent associate it with white abolitionists.

The sentiment of the protestors at Westminster Abbey was echoed by the findings of the survey, with 64 per cent of those questioned expressing dissatisfaction with the way the Bicentenary is being commemorated at a national level. “They don’t care what we think,” said Samson, a thirty year old African living in London. Leona, a student who is 27 said that there is still too much ignorance about the whole issue “even within the black community.”

Portugal was the first European nation to engage in the enslavement of Africans, followed by the Spanish and the Dutch. British interest grew in the 1630s as the trade in African humanity increased and plantations were established in the Americas.

Britain set up the Royal African Company in 1675 and by the turn of the 18th century had become the dominant slave-trading nation. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, between 12 and 15 million Africans were forcibly taken from the continent and shipped across the Atlantic. Between two and four million were taken to the British Caribbean.

Majority surveyed say govt must make reparations for its role in slavery

"They took so much away from us. We shouldn’t be struggling after 200 years" Yasmin

Ten per cent died crossing the Atlantic through the Middle Passage, and at a conservative estimate another four million lost their lives as a result of their enslavement. According to British law and customs, Africans were regarded as chattel and property and their enslavement was sanctioned by the Queen of England.

Of those questioned in the survey, 96 per cent said that the enslavement of Africans was a crime against humanity, with a further 36 per cent stating it was also a sin. Despite the term Transatlantic Slave Trade being widely used to refer to the chattel enslavement of Africans, 84 per cent of those surveyed said it should be acknowledged by the world as a holocaust.

Africans in the reparations movement already use the term Maangamizi instead of Transatlantic Slave Trade, which in Swahili means literally ‘to cause mass destruction.’ Only 4 per cent of respondents said that the chattel enslavement of Africans should be referred to as a trade.

At an African Diaspora conference in Sacramento in 2004, Dr Maulana Karenga, Professor of Black World Studies at California State University said: “By holocaust we mean a morally monstrous act of genocide which is not only targeted against the people, but also a crime against humanity. It expressed itself in three basic ways: the morally monstrous and massive destruction of human life, human culture and human possibility.”

Twenty year old student Yasmin feels that enslavement has had a devastating impact on development in Africa. “They took so much away from us. We shouldn’t be struggling after 200 years,” she said.

The Abolition Act was passed in 1807, making slavery illegal. But many critics have argued that the year itself is of no real significance, given that those enslaved in the British colonies were not granted their freedom until 1838. In Sierra Leone, a country ironically founded for freed slaves, slavery was not abolished until 1928.

A major source of discontent to this day, was the decision by the British government to award £20 million compensation to slave owners, which included the Church of England, whilst Africans who had been enslaved received nothing. The findings of the survey indicate that there is still a lingering resentment.

Of those surveyed, 88 per cent said that the British government should make reparations for its role in the chattel enslavement of Africans, whether this involves paying compensation, writing off debt, or other initiatives. “Slavery is the bedrock of the prosperity of this country. We must have formal compensation,” said Emanuel.

Where has their 'Masters' money gone?

2007-04-27T22:25:00.000Z

JANE'S POLICE REVIEW

Black police association ordered to account for years of grants
Exclusive reports by Claire Haynes and Chris Herbert

THE Home Office has ordered the National Black Police Association to work out how it has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds in Government grants in the last four years.

An official letter, sent to the association by the Home Office, stated the organisation will get no further funding until it can properly account for the money it has received and the money it will receive.

From 1 April this year, the association's funding was frozen, pending an investigation by Home Office auditors.

It is unclear whether the association has ever put together properly audited accounts since it was formed in 1999, but the Home Office has continued to increase its funding year-on-year despite no independent confirmation of how previous grants have been spent.

In a letter to the association dated 4 April this year, the Home Office set out a number of conditions the NBPA must meet before any grant money can be released.
The letter said the NBPA must put systems in place to ensure that all Home Office funding can be accounted for and any surplus funds to be returned to the Home Office in line with the grant in aid rules.

The Home Office has also said it wants 'a full inventory of assets, detailing all purchases and disposals from April 1 2003 to the present' to be compiled. The NBPA will also have to 'make reasonable efforts to recover the assets disposed of without the authorisation of the NBPA or obtain reimbursement of the book value of assets'.

In addition, the Home Office has asked for the NBPA to be subject to new governance arrangements, including the separation of the board of trustees from the association's executive.
Maqsood Ahmad, the Home Office's head of police equality and diversity policy, who signed the letter, added the Home Office 'strongly advise' that the trustees should 'include one or more representatives who are not members of the police service and who have experience from other bodies which are required to account for the use of public funds'.

The Home Office's last requirement is that the NBPA produces an annual report 'within one quarter of the end of the previous financial year together with audited accounts'.

Keith Jarrett, who took over as president of the National Black Police Association at the end of 2005, told Police Review the NBPA launched its own inquiry at the end of that year to look into the planning of its international conference, which took place in Manchester last August.
This inquiry, which ended in February 2006, found there were problems with 'procurement procedures', he said.

On the basis of these findings, he said the NBPA launched a larger inquiry into the governance of the association which ended last November. The Home Office and the NBPA agreed that auditors should then investigate 'financial irregularities' originally highlighted in the association's inquiry, he said.

Mr Ahmad's letter stated that 'a progress report was received from the auditors on 16 March which noted some additional discrepancies'. These, it said, raise a 'number of concerns regarding 'the financial expenditure incurred and the lack of financial management' of the NBPA's grant.

Investigating just what went wrong

BELOW is a timeline of the National Black Police Association's development from its formation in 1999 to financial problems revealed this year.

1998: An interim executive was elected to launch the National Black Police Association (NBPA)
1999: The NBPA adopts its constitution. It aims to promote good race relations and equality of opportunity within the police services of the UK and the wider community. The NBPA receives £45,000 in funding from the Home Office
2002: The NBPA is registered as a charity. It receives £70,370 in Home Office funding
2003: For the year 2003/04, the Home Office grants the association £81,214
2004: NBPA accounts are filed with the Charities Commission for the last time. For the 2004/05 financial year, the NBPA receives £123,638 from the Home Office
2005: For the year 2005/06, the NBPA was granted £172,610. In November, a new executive team takes over. Keith Jarrett is appointed president, Glen Williams and Jane Lam are appointed vice-presidents and Ahmed Sasso is appointed general secretary. The new NBPA executive committee launches an internal audit
2006: NBPA granted £180,000 by the Home Office for the 2006/07 financial year
February - Internal audit reports back. Due to concerns highlighted in the report, the NBPA launches a larger enquiry into the financial governance of the organisation.

November - The second enquiry reports back. A statement on the NBPA's website, dated 12 December, said the decision to have a second report had been taken after the first internal audit indicated the need to 'improve the way financial transactions are decided, recorded and scrutinised'. It said the NBPA had drawn up new guidelines and accountants had been appointed to audit all the financial dealings.

April 1: The NBPA's grants are frozen by the Home Office due to concerns about 'financial irregularities' and the 'lack of meaningful and accurate financial accounts'.

Let's not forget other forms bigotry

2007-04-27T12:20:00.000Z

Police homophobia is “endemic”

Despite attempts to refresh its image and make it appeal more to minority groups, the police service still suffers from homophobia a new study has found.The survey, conducted for the Home Office, also revealed that the police is culture is still sexist and discriminatory to minority groups. Racism however has been reduced, thanks to high profile campaigns and investigations.

The results are likely to frustrate campaigners within the force who have been pushing for change from the top level down.The Gay Police Association (GPA), a group that has worked to end homophobia within the force, has long called for action from forces across the country to ensure the service is prejudice free.

“Women, minority ethnic and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender officers continued in large numbers to feel excluded, uncomfortable and discriminated against,” the study said, according to press reports.

Conducted by Tim Newburn, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics, the study focused on four forces across the UK and surveyed officers from 17 more regions.It says that despite campaigns to end homophobia, there is a renewed sense of tolerance towards anti-gay language.

“It is quite clear that gay and lesbian officers find themselves in a very uncomfortable position in the police service,” Newburn told The Times.“There have been moments during the past 25 years when tackling sexism and homophobia has been high on the police agenda. I get the impression that this kind of sexist and homophobic language is now largely ignored and even tacitly accepted.”

Officers also reported that they found it hard to cope in a white, heterosexual male culture and that despite the changes already taking place, there would be “a long way” to go before full acceptance.

All forms of ‘hate’ are abhorrent and we would benefit from remembering these words:

First They Came for the Jews
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

MI5 trains supermarket checkout staff

2007-04-27T11:45:00.000Z

Workers told how to detect potential terrorists as shops are warned of bomb risk in underground car parks

By Sophie Goodchild and Paul Lashmar

Supermarket checkout staff are being trained by the security services in how to detect potential terrorists. MI5 has been secretly advising food retailers, including Asda and Tesco, on how to identify extremist shoppers.

Measures include increasing CCTV in underground carparks to prevent bomb attacks and being alert to mass purchases of mobile phones, which can be used as bomb detonators. The awareness training for staff also covers bulk sales of toiletries which could be used as the basic ingredient in explosives.

The security services and ministers are worried supermarkets are an attractive target for terrorists because of the potential for mass casualties.
One terrorism expert said: "Terrorists know if they frighten people from everyday activities they are 'winning the war'. What better than a busy supermarket which is hard to defend and with lots of cars in a car park?"

A Tesco spokesman said: "We have strict procedures and contingency plans in place and we remain in close contact with the security services at all levels." Asda also confirmed it had "contingency plans" to cover a "number of potential crises".
The Asda chain is owned by the US retail giant Wal-Mart. Last year, three Palestinian-Americans from Texas were arrested in a Wal-Mart outlet in Michigan after staff spotted them bulk-buying mobile phones.

The suspects claimed to be buying the 80 handsets to resell them for a profit, but police held them on suspicion they were planning to use the phones as detonators. Their van contained 1,000 phones and pictures of a bridge, police said. The men are awaiting trial.
The FBI has already thwarted a terrorist plot in the US which was aimed at hospitals and supermarkets. Last April, a 23-year-old man was convicted of supporting terror after plotting a jihad against supermarkets and hospitals in the US.

Hamid Hayat, who faces a possible sentence of 38 years, admitted he had attended a terror training camp in the Balakot area of Pakistan. His plea for a new trial was rejected last month.
The FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security sent out joint bulletins in February and March to police departments nationwide warning about the bulk purchase of phones for personal profit or financing terrorism.

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of MI5, warned in the wake of the bombing of the Twin Towers that supermarkets were an attractive target for al-Qa'ida, which could use them to cause mass casualties through bombings or poison plots.

MPs also warned in a report in 2003 that more needed to be done to protect the food industry after Tesco revealed there was a "real and current threat" of terrorists contaminating food supplies.

Special Branch officers were used during the IRA bombing campaigns on the British mainland to give advice to companies, including the food industry, on the threat they faced.

But security sources said that the problem is now much more serious, because modern extremists are more random in their approach, unlike the IRA which focused on very specific targets.

Whitehall sources confirmed that many businesses including "those in the food industry" have been given training and advice, although they refused to give specific details.

Carry on Regardless

2007-04-27T11:03:00.000Z

Following the publication in 1999 of the Inquiry report into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence has the Service really changed or does it just 'Carry on Regardless' as illustrated by Steve Bell's cartoon which was printed a year on in 2000 in the Guardian?

When will we actually see the Police change or would it be better for all of us if they just told the truth and admitted that they really have no intention of changing. They are quite content hiding behind the fact that 'society is 'Institutionally Racist' so why should they be different?'

Police Racism v Media Racism?
By: Claudia Webbe

Sir Ian Blair is continuing to feel the heat this week following his comments regarding institutional racism in the media. He is experiencing no less than those of us who routinely complain of racism, harassment and discrimination, whether in the workplace, in our educational establishments, on the streets or at the hands of racist police officers. It is absolutely clear that those who experience racism first hand and have the courage to speak up and speak out are systematically vilified.

Even the most progressive of organisations cannot tolerate being criticised for acts of institutional racism and discrimination and those that complain about such organisations are quickly silenced and shifted aside. Individuals are victimised and hounded out of their jobs, or they are arrested, beaten up and unlawfully detained for daring to complain about their racist treatment at the hands of the police. This is a daily occurrence. Institutional racism is rife in the workplace, where those that work for the public sector fair no better than those that work in the private sector.

Indeed Sir Ian was correct to raise and respond to the issue of difference of treatment and attention by the media when considering homicides involving black or white victims. In London alone over 50% of reported homicides are of Black people, this is disproportionate to the population and disproportionate to the media reporting of such incidents. Murders and attacks on Black people - with one or two very obvious exceptions - simply do not dominate the news agenda in the same way as many of those affecting white people.

Having had the issue raised with him by members of the Black community, Sir Ian responded and for that reason alone he deserves our support but he has much more to do in looking closer at home within his own organisation to root out institutional racism. Too little is being done to address the racism of those that operate at the frontline of policing and there is still much more work to be done to protect those vulnerable to discrimination and racism within the service and to stem the continued rise of those leaving in the face of discrimination. The police still have a long way to go in the whole area of recruitment, retention and progression. Public confidence between the Black community and the police is still at an all time low.

Sir Ian Blair has rightly highlighted that the media is not immune from the problem of institutional racism. Racism in the media, as elsewhere, cannot be ignored but his cries seem weak when compared with the extent of institutional racism still rife within the police service.
The police are the people that we are supposed to trust, they are the people governed to uphold the law, yet we know for those of us operating at the heart of our communities that they sometimes abuse that trust and as black communities we live in fear of death, serious injury, abuse, wrongful arrest and detention at the hands of the police. In my experience nothing has changed post Lawrence and further the increased powers given to the police post 9-11 has simply given them greater legitimacy to discriminate against black communities.

Senior managers and those in positions of power from across a wide range of organisations become indignant at the thought that they or their organisation could be accused of institutional racism. Citing such claims by their employees as an act of disloyalty, which should only be rewarded by a swift 'boot up the arse', thus creating a climate of fear for those who dare to exercise their right to complain.

The treatment of large sections of the Black community at the hands of the police, at the hands of the media and at the hands of the public and private sector highlight that we still have a long way to go to root out institutional racism and it is unlikely that any significant change will happen in our lifetime. Radical action is needed in order for change to occur, so that those that have the courage to complain are adequately protected and those who suffer discrimination have proper opportunities for justice. Clear action is required so that our children have their rights and freedoms upheld, so that their lives are not constrained and controlled by racism or discrimination whether institutional or otherwise. The media and the police as well as a wide range of other organisations still have a long way to go to remove the barriers of opportunity and to root out institutional racism.
Claudia Webbe.

Ethnic Quotas

2007-04-27T10:32:00.000Z

Police heads debate ethnic quotas Chief constables in England and Wales are to discuss whether to boost the recruitment of black and Asian officers by "affirmative action".

The Association of Chief Police Officers will debate the move, which would need employment law changes.
Under the plan, women would also get priority in order to boost numbers.
However, critics branded the idea "reverse discrimination" and suggested that the police should make itself more attractive to ethnic minorities.
Acpo says raising the 3.7% of officers from ethnic minorities to the Home Office's 7% target by 2009 cannot be done without changing policy.
Fast-track system
However, a change to employment law is not favoured by the Home Office.
Peter Fahy, chief constable of Cheshire, who speaks for Acpo on race and diversity, is calling for a debate on amending the law.
Under the changes being considered, black and Asian recruits with the necessary qualifications would be fast-tracked, to meet quotas set by each force.
According to Acpo, the plans would represent "affirmative action", which it defines as the process of prioritising minorities once they have passed initial selection procedures.
Under such a plan, if two job candidates met the required standards, the candidate whose ethnicity is under-represented in the force would be selected.
Acpo says this differs from "positive discrimination", which it says means hiring minorities regardless of whether they are qualified for a job.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the Home Office had indicated it would prefer to work within existing laws to increase the numbers from ethnic minorities applying to join the police.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, said recruitment from ethnic minorities in his force was close to 20% but he admitted the Met would not reach the 2009 target of 25% black & Asian officers in the workforce.
He said: "The only way to achieve it would be to sack white male officers."
Sir Ian said the target should have been based on the proportion of new recruits rather than on the entire workforce.
But Keith Jarrett, President of the National Black Police Association, said he supported the use of affirmative action.
He told the BBC: "If we look at Hounslow in London, it's a borough that is predominantly from a minority ethnic background.
HAVE YOUR SAY Employ the person best qualified for the job, not because they tick the 'politically correct' box Cy, Dorset, UK
"Now whilst my white colleagues are immensely qualified to do the job, I would put forward that Hounslow would be better served as a borough by a person from an Asian background, who has got culture in common with the local inhabitants, and perhaps speaks the same language."
Nick Timmings, an employment lawyer with London-based TMP solicitors, said: "We have had clients who have worked in the police for a while and found the culture repellent.
"What the police need to be doing is make the career more attractive to people from different backgrounds."
He said there was an "old boys' network" in the organisation who liked to go to the pub and added that this left out those who could not drink because of religious beliefs.
He added that changes in the law required to facilitate these ideas would have to be "fairly radical".
Nick Johnson, from the Commission for Racial Equality, said there were better ways of addressing the problem of under-representation.
He said: "Positive action is about going into certain communities, targeting resources, targeting promotional work, building up training and development - that's something we would support.
"Picking someone simply because of the colour of their skin for a job is not something we would support."
A spokeswoman added later: "These forms of 'reverse discrimination' could actually increase community tensions, rather than ease them."
'Fair and square'
British Transport Police officer Trina Allen told BBC News she did not feel she had been given special treatment when she had applied for her job.
She said: "I'd hate to think that I'd get my job because of my colour. I've been through the entire process and at no point there was anything hidden to say 'apply because you're black'."
Chaz Singh, who was turned down by the force, said it would not be right to get the job because of a person's colour.
"I didn't get the job fair and square. It didn't go any further than that," he said.
"But to turn round and now be received in the sense that I could apply for a job because of my colour, I think that's wrong. I don't think colour should come before ability."
Matt Powell, a white candidate who was awarded compensation from Gloucestershire Police after they rejected his application, has described Acpo's proposals as an "absolute disgrace".
"People want the best police force, and if you start ring-fencing jobs for certain groups, I think you're going down a very dangerous path," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6570545.stmPublished: 2007/04/19 13:25:55 GMT© BBC MMVII

Muslim veil 'allowed in courts'

2007-04-27T10:30:00.000Z

Muslim veil 'allowed in courts'

Muslim women will be allowed to wear a veil in court under new guidelines issued following a dispute last year.

The Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee examined whether women should be allowed to wear the full facial covering, the niqab.

Decisions should be made on each case and veils should not interfere with the administration of justice, it found.

It follows the adjournment of a case in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, after a legal advisor refused to remove her veil.

Judge George Glossop said he was having difficulty hearing legal executive Shabnam Mughal at the immigration court in November.

We respect the right to wear the niqab as part of religious beliefs, although the interests of justice remain paramount
Mrs Justice Cox, Committee chairwoman

The guidelines say forcing a woman to choose between her religious identity and taking part in a court case could have a "significant impact on that woman's sense of dignity" and could serve to "exclude and marginalise" her.

Committee chairwoman Mrs Justice Cox said: "We respect the right for Muslim women to choose to wear the niqab as part of their religious beliefs, although the interests of justice remain paramount."

She said a judge may consider taking action to allow a fair hearing for women wearing a niqab and others in proceedings.

The guidelines say if the wearer is a victim it should not be "automatically assumed" that the niqab would create a problem.

"Nor should it ever be assumed without good reason that it is inappropriate for a woman to give evidence in court wearing the full veil."

It is heartening to see the courts base their guidelines on the merits rather than on intolerance and prejudice
Massoud Shadjareh, Chairman, Islamic Human Rights Commission

Any request to remove a veil should be considered carefully and be "thoughtful and sensitive" and the courtroom could be cleared of those not involved in the case for her proceed.

Judges should assume female Muslim lawyers are entitled to wear the veil, the guidelines say.

A judge may consider excusing a juror if a challenge is made by one of the parties, providing the objection is genuine.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission said it welcomed the guidelines.

Chairman Massoud Shadjareh, said: "In the climate of Islamophobia we live in, it is heartening to see the courts base their guidelines on the merits rather than on intolerance and prejudice."

Mixed Realtionships

2007-03-06T15:29:00.000Z

So there I was just trying to update myself as to today’s issues when I came across http://www.blackaganda.blogspot.com/ You need to see it to comment.

What is all this about?

Is there some sort of fear being disclosed?

The Host declares his occupation to be a 'Nationalist Nutter'

What are your thoughts?

Now if the mixed relationship issue interests you, you may benefit from reading the works of Franz Fanon, he wrote extensively on both Colonisation and post Colonisation and how this has effected the Black psyche. Very interesting reading, especially for those interested in personal development and how to break from the historical chains of slavery and bondage.

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz - Malcom X

2007-02-21T11:27:00.000Z

On 21st February 1965 El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (born Malcom Little and then adopted X as his surname upon being accepted into the Nation of Islam) was gunned down and died whilst speaking at the Audubon Ballroom, New York, USA.

Some today may call this man a 'Islamist Extremist or Radical', others may see him as a man who at the time of his death stood for the unity between all ethnic groups and spoke of peace.

Is it possible that a person of similar charisma and thought could aid the peoples of Britain to develop some form of community and social cohesion or on the other hand bring about civil unrest and ultimately anarchy?