THE RULE OF LAW...WHO TRUSTS IT?

The trouble with having a police force which is believed to be corrupt, incompetent and systemically racist, is that no matter what anyone (including the local MP and the Mayor of London) says about the rule of law, no one believes a word of it.

The troubles in Tottenham in the English capital last night were sparked off by a gun incident allegedly involving a minicab and the police. The jist of the story is that an officer’s radio was hit by a bullet and that fire was returned. A man in the mini cab was killed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission was called in to investigate, but the problem is that no one believes that they are independent. And because the people of Tottenham don’t believe that they will get anything like a fair hearing, they took to the streets.

I suppose that the difference between a peaceful protest and a violent one can be small. A tiny incident, a perceived slight, or the arrival of thugs looking for an excuse to do battle with the police, can spark the violence.

As of yet it’s not clear what it was that turned the protest into riot, but this morning there are burnt out buildings, cars and buses in the streets of Tottenham.

And no one will believe anything that anyone says.

Over the past few years people have endured a series of stories marking out MPs and members of the so-called “Upper” House of parliament as cheats, and furthermore cheats who got off with it. Even those who were supposedly punished were allowed out of prison after serving a quarter of their sentences. No one was supposed to notice.

The press bribed the police either financially or by means of blackmail... and far worse the police, have spurned their duty in favour of money and free meals with the proprietor of at least one group of newspapers.

And, despite being warned off, members of government have enjoyed cosy friendly personal relationships with these crooks including employing them at public expense in the service of England and the UK.

But no one imagines for a second that any of the criminal blame, whether deserved or not, will fall at the feet of Michael Gove, English Education Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, English Culture Secretary or George Osborne, Finance Secretary. No one expects to see David Cameron arrested because he was discussing sensitive information on government bids with his friends, who happened to be named Murdoch.

People thought that Vince Cable got off lightly when he foolishly bragged to some giggly “young girls” that he was going to thwart Murdoch. To sack him, they surmised, would be to unravel the coalition and thereby David Cameron’s tenure as PM. Not a bit of it. It was because everyone in government circles knew how close Cameron was to the situation.

And recently Fergie was caught selling access to the duke of York. Was she punished? Prince Charles, renamed Price Charles, was swapping an invitation to the wedding for free plane rides to America, and it was revealed that William’s house (and Highgrove)has been done out in expensive tiling by some Spanish magnate in return for his place in the Abbey.

Not only that but the famous £100,000 Islamic-style garden at Highgrove (pictured), which won a silver medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, was donated by the same man.

When people are pretty certain that they can’t trust anyone to give them justice, because people with that kind of power are only interested in themselves and money, why wouldn't they turn to rioting?

Quad erat demonstrandum.

HOW MUCH WILL PEOPLE TOLERATE FROM A DISCREDITED LEADERSHIP?

Following the disturbances in London on Thursday last and the fact that Charles was involved, Cameron has decided to get tough. He looked jolly cross when he was ticking everyone off the other day.

It is not, absolutely not on, to ruin other people’s things unless your father has enough money to put the whole show to rights the next day. And terrorising innocent bystanders is only alright if it’s in an upmarket restaurant, in Oxford, and only rich people are involved, and it must never involve a prince of the blood royal unless he was in your house, or at least another chap’s house at school.

More seriously the idiot who is paid to be in charge of policing in London told the protestors that they were lucky not to be shot. Apparently it is within the right of the police to shoot people who are threatening a “highness”. Kinky Boots May, the home secretary has hinted that she would not stand in the way of police using water cannon (which is a pity because I wouldn’t mind seeing her being blown down the Thames with a hose up her frock). So for the first time in Great Britian, water cannon could be used. (After old Boris banging on the other day about how jolly decent it was of us chaps not to use them, ooops.) Other people have suggested tazers and tear gas, and I think I heard rubber bullets proposed.

I wonder what effect that would have. OK. I know, people would get very wet, or teary or sore..., and if they shot people, I suppose they would get very dead.

I think people are angry at being treated badly, at being expected to pay back money the bankers lost them, and at being spoken down to by Cameron and his poodle Clegg, both looking very angry (or possibly frightened). It’s been a bad time recently for authority, or what passes for it. MPs have been found to be on the fiddle and lords too have had their snouts in the trough. In Yorkshire two senior police Officers are under investigation for fiddling recruitment so that their family would profit, and elsewhere senior police have been found wanting and in court. A police officer killed a passerby at a protest last year and got off with it. And the prince of Wales has defied the tenets of the church he will (perhaps) one day lead by marrying a woman with whom he had an adulterous affair whilst married to the Princess of Wales and who herself has a living spouse.

What’s to respect?

Just how much of a beating will people take from people whom they see as corrupt before the kick off properly?

If police shot someone because they poured paint on a car which happened to belong to Charles, what do you think people would do?

I’ve put up a poll... please give your opinions, and of course leave a comment if you wish. I’m interested to know what people think about this.

Opinions from foreigners are equally valid (Danny).... Les avis des étrangers sont également valides (Yves).

Sorry, all the pics are of Theresa May, because I just can’t get over what an old perv she appears to be with her kinky shoes, and there she is doing some dirty dancing with a row of men in police uniforms. Enjoy, I bet she did!

THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA DECIDE WHAT GOT CUT?

We got an idea of what the austerity drive will mean for the first time yesterday as the coalition Government signalled billions of pounds of cuts to hospitals, libraries, leisure projects and roads.

Free swimming for the over-60s and under-16s is to be abolished. A Stonehenge visitor centre is not to go ahead saving £25 million. The £7 billion programme to replace the fleet of Sea King search-and-rescue helicopters is suspended. More than £1 billion for the young unemployed is to be cut and an £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters cancelled. A long-planned hospital in Stockton-on-Tees will not be built.

So there you go in the same week that we are squabbling about who should go to a garden party with the Queen, £1 billion to help young people into work is being cut. That begs the question how is the coalition going to get jobs for all these people and get them off JSA?

Danny Alexander (late of the Scotland Office) detailed an unheralded announcement to the Commons. He said that the Treasury was cutting 12 projects worth £2 billion and suspending a dozen more worth £8.5 billion. In addition, he said that he had found a £1 billion hole in the public finances, where Labour had committed the Government to programmes financed by non-existent under spending, which brought the total necessary savings to £11.5 billion.

Yesterday’s cuts are but a foretaste of what will follow next week when George Osborne will use his Budget to announce by how many tens of billions he intends to reduce spending.

Mr Alexander’s axe fell three times on Sheffield, potentially costing the constituency of Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, more than £100 million. Along with the Forgemasters loan, which had been intended to support the nuclear industry, a £13 million industrial park was cancelled and £12 million plans to modernise the city’s shopping centre suspended. So nuclear power stations and weapons yes; ancillary investment for the nuclear industry no. That should make for safe new power stations or are we going to buy that all in from Iran or North Korea?

Well there you go as usual its garden parties and royal junkets yes; help for unemployed young people no. Hundreds of new Lords yes; new hospitals no. Nuclear weapons that we will never use yes: search and rescue helicopters no.

If this is only a drop in the ocean to what we can expect next week and then you add in tax hikes as well I would not be surprise if the legendary patience of the British people snapped rather like it did over the poll tax and civil disobedience was the result.