Saturday, February 23, 2008

Dear Mr. Cameron





By common consent this country is in a dreadful mess. Nearly three hundred thousand people are leaving it each year and this total will without a shadow of a doubt, rise in the coming years, unless there is a sea change in the socio-economic climate. I would further suggest that many of our best and brightest citizens will be among the emigrants.

Britain is a much less agreeable, less compassionate, less respectful, less educated and much more aggressive society than it was 20, 30 or forty years ago, when despite its economic failings, it was still the freest, most liberating and best democracy in the World.

People were generally polite and respectful of each other and the law. The police force was integrated into and a vital part of local communities. The “bobbies” were known by name and also knew many people in their communities by name which created a healthy discourse and information exchange. The “bobbies” had their noses to the ground and knew where to look when trouble occurred. It was a mutually rewarding partnership for both the police and communities and performed a vital social link that no amount of intrusive CCTV cameras can hope to replace or surpass.

Bobbies on the beat prevent crime. CCTV cameras simply record crime. Judging by the amount of crimes caught on CCTV, it is clear that they are obviously not an effective deterrent. They most certainly do not prevent some innocent person sitting quietly on a bench being stabbed by drink fuelled, foul mouthed yobs looking for trouble. We have all seen the CCTV coverage but it was no help to the young man in question. CCTV has recorded countless muggings, robberies and worse and although many of those responsible were later caught after the fact, the cameras were impotent when it came to preventing the crimes which is little comfort to the victims.

Police in the streets is the only deterrent that actually works. You know it. I know it. The whole country knows it and yet the legitimate wishes of the majority in this country are ignored by all of the political parties who whilst they pay lip service to the principle do not actually do anything about it in practice.

The people of this country are sick to the back teeth of the ineptitude of successive governments, failing to get to grips with policing in general and community policing in particular. We recognise that it is not the fault of ordinary policemen and women but of their cow-towing superiors who acquiesce far too meekly to their incompetent, unthinking, intellectually superficial political masters who seemingly have lost all touch with reality and common sense.

The question to you, Mr Cameron, is what if anything are you finally going to do about it and what are you going to do to roll back this horrendously intrusive surveillance state that has mushroomed to cover up the inadequacies of government policies in respect of policing and law and order? What we now have is the laziest and worst of all solutions, a burgeoning police state which is an affront to the liberty, privacy and dignity of the people of this country and why many are leaving.

Incidentally, it is also an abuse of power to install ultra-sonic "Mosquito" equipment permanently at any site, in order to deter youngsters 25 and below from hanging around certain areas. In so doing you are punishishing the innocent and the guilty alike. This goes against every principle of justice in this country. This equipment should be carried by mobile police units and used only to target trouble makers when appropriate.

It is a fundamental mistake by the people of this country to give or cede any more power to the state than is absolutely imperative because as with the atom bomb, someone, somewhere down the line will abuse it. That is already happening as I have just said in the previous paragraph. So again, I finish by asking what are you going to do about it? Your electoral success will depend on your answer to this and other questions many want answered and which I will try to extrapolate in the coming weeks and months?

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