YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

I had intended to write something today about the outcome of the Hillsborough hearing.

That was until I read Mark Frankland's piece on it.

Now you'll know already that I'm a big fan of this guy, not only as a writer (his books are gripping reads, and available on Amazon) but as a food bank manager that goes just that step or two farther and provides for his clients more than just something to eat.

So I look forward to his posts, even if sometimes they make me angry, or sad, or just despairing of the United Kingdom and its foulness, and invariably make me cry.

It turns out that Mark was there that day in Hillsborough. At the match. 

Mark actually witnessed this stuff, and because he's Mark he got involved; wrote to his MP and ended up giving evidence to the court.

I'll not tell you more. 

It's a far better idea to read his own account, which you can do here (if you haven't already). He's a writer. He makes it real.

Suffice to say, I'm ashamed, once again, that we live in the kind of country where cover up by people at the very top is how we deal with incompetence and deceit in the very people we pay to competent and honest.

Any suggestion that leniency should be shown to people who put the football fans through this is, of course, beyond the pale in my opinion. Apparently the Daily Mail suggested that it may not serve the ends of justice for elderly men to be tried and possibly jailed for these crimes.

Nonsense.

We allow policemen and women to have a measure of power over us. We accept a similar, although different, situation for elected officials.  In return we have the right to expect them to behave as if they deserved that privilege.

When they fall short, we need them to be dealt with in the most severe fashion. 

Thatcher has form on covering up horrific crimes.

Of course it doesn't happen. When MPs and Lords stole money from the state in far larger amounts than any benefit scrounger, a few, a very few, hapless misfits that no one liked were thrown to the wolves and imprisoned for short periods; Hanningfield served as little as 9 days for the theft of thousands of pounds, before he was released to continue with his fiddling. 

I wonder how many DWP clients who've fiddled that kind of money could say the same.

At the same time people who stole from us to have their moats cleaned or their duck houses maintained, their wisteria removed or their hanging baskets watered, got off Scot free.

This though, was murder, by some other name. That's more serious than stealing a few million.

Senior police, no matter how old and frail need to be made to pay. Politicians compliant with orders from the top (Thatcher) to hush it up and blame the fans for crimes, including inventing preposterous stories about urinating on, and picking the pockets of, dead bodies, likewise. 

It's no good saying that speaking up would have ended their careers. So what? They were condoning murder, and we were paying them to do it!

Oh yes, just one final thought... what did they tell the Queen... these right honourable???? privy councillors? 

ROLL ON THE DAY WHEN WE DON'T HAVE TWITS LIKE THIS IN OUR GOVERNMENT

There are times when you wonder at the sheer incompetence of members of Cameron's government.

The English police have come in for some well deserved stick recently. (I only mention that they are English, because in fact the are, and the Scottish police are an entirely separate organisation, who have not had any more bad press than usual.)

They Met, in particular has lost several senior officers over its close relationship with the press; over brutality of its officers at student protests and the G8 protests where a totally uninvolved member of the public was killed, and of course the Yorkshire police cover up over Hillsborough.

But, earlier this week, two police officers in Manchester were shot and there was a considerable outpouring of sympathy for them and their families and colleagues. Noticeably more coverage was given than is ever allowed for members of the armed forces who are killed in the line of duty.

Clearly it is of vital importance to the government that the public has confidence in the police. The alternative is unthinkable, and Cameron will surely have been concerned that all the bad publicity will have eroded that. He, after all, may need the police to be onside at some stage in the next 2 1/2 years.

And so, out he came to make a solemn speech about two brave officers killed by a ruthless criminal, with all the expected "fine body of men" type quotes.

It must have been somewhat of a blow to him then when a man he has just promoted from a very junior cabinet position to be his chief whip in an increasingly fractious Tory Party, decided to have a rant at the police in Downing Street, in front of members of the public and the press.

Andrew Mitchell (Rugby and Cambridge) managed to say (or allegedly say) just about everything that reinforces the stereotype image that we all have of a Tory Cabinet Minister.

Having been stopped at the gate of Downing Street and directed to use the pedestrian gate at the side, the immediately unlike-able Mitchell launched into a rant, in which he allegedly (although he denies this) called the police "f*king plebs", and told then that they should "learn your place", and pointed out that they did not run the government (erm, neither does he)... although I'm sure that even the most arrogant of the police would not claim to do so.

Iain Martin, a Daily Telegraph political correspondent thinks he will be unlikely to be in his job by the end of the weekend.  

But these people have more front than Rothsay, so I reckon he will hold out in the hopes that the press will find something more significant to report than a posh privileged muppet abusing someone who has a little bit of authority over him. 

Isn't it, though, quite scary that the governance of the country is in the hands of people who have such poor judgement. 

Update

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2206484/Police-say-Andrew-Mitchell-yelled-Ill-job-officer-stopped-riding-bike.html

According to the Mail (dubious) Mitchell threatened to have the officer's job for this.  ‘I’ll have your ****ing job for this.’ along with...‘I’m the chief whip. I’m telling you open this gate. I’m the chief whip and I’m coming through these gates. Best you learn your ****ing place. You don’t run this ****ing government. You’re ****ing plebs.’

Oops, if it's true, it's worse than I thought and he's toast by Sunday!

But there's the dilemma. You have:

1. The Met ...

2. A Westminster Tory Cabinet Minister

3. The Press, in particular the Daily Mail.

So who is telling the truth. Probably none of them, I suspect!