Police Reform Conference – Jan 15th 2005

Speech by Hazel Blears – Police Minister.

“Accountability…. is vital for public confidence. And for our desire to increase community engagement. We want to clarify and strengthen the present arrangements. On a very basic level – people pay taxes and want to know that their money is making a difference”

Hat tip to Inspector Gadget.

Demetrius
May 10, 2009 at 11:46

Didn’t hopping Hazel do a turn on Strictly Come Dancing? Now Caroline Flint does fashion in the “Observer”, hoping to wow the young voters, as well as dissident ex-miners in the Don Valley. What next I wonder?

Anna Raccoon
May 10, 2009 at 11:47

An election, hopefully…….

Henry North London
May 10, 2009 at 12:42

Im going to borrow this ( Dont have time to think up a decent post)

Blink
May 10, 2009 at 13:00

You have to laugh.

This woman is manifestly mad.

I’d be very happy spending some of my taxes in rigging up the necessary number of lamp posts to get rid of the lot of them. That’s what I call accountability.

plant man
May 10, 2009 at 13:05

TL + SR 4 the 646

(Tall Lampost + Short Rope for the 646)

Pass it on

chronic
May 10, 2009 at 13:05

The 8th Dwarf “sleazy”

plant man
May 10, 2009 at 13:48

Send a pig to Parliament FTAO Mr Speaker. Anything will do – picture,badge,stuffed toy, balloon.

And then – and this is the important part – send an email to the BEEB, and SKY News and the Telegraph (why not – I hate the hoons and after the stunt they played on Guido I wrote and told them I would break the habit of 55 years and stop buying, and I did – but they have gone some way to redeeming themselves now) Stress again THIS IS IMPORTANT because we don’t know the extent of the success of OH’s “Send-a-shirt-to-Gordon” because obviously the Stasi are not going to admit either that it is going on, or the size of it. So we need a mechanism of information disemination that the MSM can’t ignore – and lots and lots of us to do it of course.

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 17:58

Hi Anna

I know this isn’t the ideal location for the comment, but for want of other ideas…

I was wondering if you could let me know why you have removed our site from your blogroll? Was it something we said?

Anna Raccoon
May 10, 2009 at 18:12

Not at all.
The blogroll was getting over long and I cut it down to those sites who visit and make comment here. Seemed a reasonable yardstick.
Since you had not so far had time to do so, you got ‘culled’.
I shall be looking at the blog roll again in a month or so.
I have commented in the past on your site, so you do have my e-mail address on record – and it is on the ‘satirical comment page’.

Blink
May 10, 2009 at 19:12

what’s happening on Guido’s site ?

can’t get a connection????

Anna Raccoon
May 10, 2009 at 19:29

3 million page views a day is enough to fry anyone’s server Blink…….
Guido has set off a revolution, and deserves the support of all of us who value what Great Britain used to be.
Trouble is, when we all support him at once………

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 19:13

Fair enough, I wasn’t being arsy I just wondered why a conscious decision was made.

I do think your site is very good, but I scarcely get the chance to visit many other blogs these days so apologies for lack of visitage.

Hell, I barely get the time to visit my own!

Take care, love

regards

John D.

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 19:14

“what

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 21:31

I think the piece on Guido in the last issue of Private Eye says it all really.

Naturally, politicians need to be ripped apart and held accountable for their twisted misdeeds, but it’s not like Guido is Superman and the only person alive able and willing to take the job on.

I’m sure the HoC mole would have found another outlet for his collection of info.

And it doesn’t do anyone any harm to be sceptical and ask questions every now and then. Nobody is infallible, nobody is perfect and that includes us Libertarians.

It all boils down to this: he ain’t a saint figure, he ain’t Mother Theresa and his blog, by and large, is total and utter shite. It’s only got interesting lately because of the whole expenses and McBride thing.

Besides that, it’s a basis for the usual meat and potatoes of Westminster Village gossip, which is about as interesting as reading a copy of Wuthering Heights translated into Ancient Greek.

witteringsfromwitney
May 10, 2009 at 21:38

Was not aware that Hazel, my Dad’s got shorter legs than your Dad, Blears was a mime artist and could tell us, the people, with her fingers what she wanted us to do!

Bet she must rue the day she ‘went into labour’!

Also Anna, just noticed my inclusion – thank you very much, greatly appreciated and very touched!

witteringsfromwitney
May 10, 2009 at 21:59

John Demetriou – only a personal view, but bad form old chap to denigrate a fellow blogger on a third-party site! Not done, you know!

In respect of fame – to be honest I had not heard of you, but then I am just a ‘new boy’ in the blogsphere. however I became aware of Guido virtually from the moment I did start!

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 22:06

You won’t have heard of us, Witney, because we are a small outfit and if I may say so myself, rather underrated.

Fair play to Guido for his success and all that, but I think I reserve the right, as does anyone else, to lay criticism at his door – seeing as he has taken to the public centre stage so prominently of late.

The idea that someone can be beyond reproach or criticism, because they have been elevated into a form of blogosphere bound sainthood is to put it mildly – worrying.

Why can’t I criticise? As far as I’m concerned, you or anyone else for that matter could slag me off till the cows come home, I really don’t give a f***.

And I’m sure lil’ old Guido can cope with my knock about his site being boring. He won’t be crying, what with the fact that millions of people read him and he’s become a commercial success out of his efforts. I applaud success, I just raise eyebrows at things like unseemly piety, the faint whiff of double standards and unfathomable hero worship.

Sorry, have I crossed a line here? Am I in need of eradicating from the great plains of Libertarian discourse and political activism?

Is that the sweet scent of irony I detect in the air?

Anna Raccoon
May 10, 2009 at 22:25

Demetriou,

Surely if you wish to criticise Guido, the place to do it is on Guido’s blog, or by e-mail to him?

I supported you as a fellow Libertarian, gave you a link on my blogroll, commented on your blog.

Since when I have heard precisely zilch from you. Not a comment, nor a reciprocal link.

You came here this evening whining that I had taken you off my blogroll. Actually I hadn’t. I had made the link private, so that you still had the value of the link, but without the advertising that you had had from being alphabetically top of my blog roll.

Suddenly you are all over my blog like a rash. A nasty rash. I assume that has something to do with Guido’s recent success. Jealousy by any chance?

Whatever. I see no reason to give you any more air time to rubbish someone who has supported me, and who I support totally. Guido is no more beyond reproach than you or I. However, you are boring the pants off me with your green eyed criticism.

You can have your Libertarian free speech. On your own blog. Off you pop!

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 22:30

I’m sorry if I’ve offended you Anna, it certainly wasn’t my intention.

I can guarantee you I didn’t come here to stir up a jealous shit storm about anything or anyone. I do, in fact, check your site every few days or so and I haven’t added you as a reciprocal link because I haven’t updated my blogroll for yonks. It was the fact that a conscious decision was made to take my link off yorus that had me wondering.

I mentioned Guido in an off hand comment because of something that contributor ‘Blinky’ said above. And to underline, again, I applaud his success, but I am reticent about certain aspects to his site and the current hero worship going on. Just my view, that’s all.

Obviously you feel I’m out of line by knocking him here, and I respect that. So please accept my apologies and I shan’t be bothering you again.

All the best, and I wish you success with your site.

John

John Demetriou
May 10, 2009 at 23:01

Sorry, two quick questions before I go, I hope you don’t mind.

Firstly, out of interest, why have you changed your blog settings so that comments from me are now ‘under moderation’ before appearing? Are you afraid I might come here and post comments? Ones you don’t like maybe?

Secondly, and I ask this as you have the ‘Libertarian Party member’ widget on your site indicating you are a member and therefore hold Libertarian beliefs…why did you say: “You can have your Libertarian free speech…”?

[my] Libertarian free speech? An odd turn of phrase, if I may be so bold to say, from a Libertarian. Call me paranoid, but this seems a little contemptous of such a liberty does it not? You seem almost afronted by the concept!

I’d be grateful for any explanation that occurs to you, thanks.

Anna Raccoon
May 11, 2009 at 07:48

Dear John, (time honoured meaning firmly implied)

I am married, happily so. Thanks to the unexpected resounding success of this blog, I no longer wash, wipe, or feed my husband, he does all that for himself. (He’s a clever boy). However, every night, well most nights, political scandals allowing, at precisely 10.30pm, he prises my old, arthritic fingers from the keyboard, and insists that I follow him upstairs – and go to bed. I put comment moderation on as I do so. There are some oddly obsessive and vitriolic people with nothing better to do in the early hours of the morning.

As For ‘[my] Libertarian free speech? An odd turn of phrase’ it was in response to ‘Sorry, have I crossed a line here? Am I in need of eradicating from the great plains of Libertarian discourse and political activism?’. Your own blog is open for as long as you wish it to be. Mine was closing for the night. If you wish to knock Guido, feel free to do so all night long, – on your blog.

You will see that I have no objection to your making a complete prat of your self in public, your comments do appear – when I am here.

Now do excuse me – visit to the French tax man this morning to pay my share of the French National Debt ahead of the rush – so comment moderation will be on until I return!

Keving Boatang
May 11, 2009 at 10:58

“[Guido]..who I support totally”

Nothing like good old fashioned dogmatism Anna. Lovely stuff. Following blindly and loyally is everything that has created the state that the Libertarian movement wishes to remove.

Saul
May 11, 2009 at 15:29

Would that be pavlovs dogmatism?

Seems like someones got a bone they cant let go of.

Anna Raccoon
May 11, 2009 at 15:38

Morning Saul – are you with us again?

John Demetriou
May 11, 2009 at 19:41

Cheers for the life story. Really needed that. Particularly the vaguely worrying account of being coerced to bed as a matter of course at 10:30pm every night. Brilliant.

Also not sure why you’re moaning about paying tax in France. You went there, it’s a foreign country, you’ve got to play by their rules.

Nothing quite like a whinging ex pat who piles into their homeland from far distant shores, as though they brandish the right to a legacy in the old land as well as the new. Get a grip, woman for heaven’s sake.

Oh, and you’ve singularly failed to address my main question with any form of integrity. You make out as though the nature of our interchange was down to the fact you were shutting your computer down for the night. When in actual fact the real reason you spat the dummy out, as you jolly well know, is that I had ruffled your feathers by knocking your Hero-in-Chief.

It’s OK though. I’ve taken your advice, past and present, and everything we want to say about that cretinous, pious, bumptious leprechaun ‘Fawkes’ is said and done. Not too much word count mind, we tend to stick to talking about things that matter.

You ought to take a leaf out of our book some time, might help your amazingly, unpredictably successful blog.

Anyway, I’ll leave you to harp on about Westminster politics whilst nibbling away at the last of your pain aux chocolat as the French sunshine splinters through your rattan blinds. Enjoy.

John Demetriou
May 11, 2009 at 19:51

One more thing, as it’s itching away at me.

“If you wish to knock Guido, feel free to do so all night long, – on your blog.”

‘Anna’, you don’t put a comma before a dash. The dash is adequate enough a punctuation mark for the purposes of introducing your firmly stated aside. You don’t use both the comma and the dash.

Little tip for you, for the next time you bumptiously denigrate someone who posts on your site.

Adios!

janes
May 11, 2009 at 22:27

Hey John, I thought you said respect to Guido – and now he’s a ‘cretinous, pious, bumptious leprechaun’! You say you only waste your word count on things that matter so you obviously think this blog does or you wouldn’t have wasted so many of them here.

Is that really John Shades Demetriou or is you Gloria, taking the mick? Come on now, own up.

Anna Raccoon
May 11, 2009 at 22:29

Evening janes…….! I’m late tonight, got something I’ve just got to write……..

John Demetriou
May 11, 2009 at 22:55

Janes.

Respect to him for making a success of something. But cretinous, pious, bumptious leprechauns are more than capable of making something work if they put their minds to it. Have you heard of a place called “The Houses of Parliament” perchance?

And as for word count, these mere scatterings are bread crumbs on the park bench compared to the amount I write for my blog and elsewhere daily.

I’ll go now, as I await Anna’s prose of wisdom and glory for make benefit glorious libertarian nation of pigeons.

Bye.

janes
May 12, 2009 at 11:15

John Demetriou: Have you heard of a place called

Keving Boatang
May 12, 2009 at 11:34

Janes…Cock

janes
May 12, 2009 at 11:42

Keving Boatang: Janes

Gloria Smudd
May 12, 2009 at 11:47

janes. I have just read your suggestion that I am taking the mick. Shame on you, shame, do you hear me?!

janes
May 12, 2009 at 12:08

Hi hen – Shame I can cope with, discourteous words are something else.

Kevin Boatang
May 12, 2009 at 13:19

Janes, please grow up. I’m taking the piss. heaven forbid that anyone should be discourtious! Gosh, I really must have a lay down before someone uses…sarcasm.

Swiss Bob
May 13, 2009 at 21:48

Ghastly isn’t she, even worse in the flesh, so to speak.