"We can't have environmental justice without Social justice"

Has the electorate finally got fed up of the two party politics we have seen in the UK for too long?The multi millionaire Tory Government sneering and smirking as they impose more and more ideological cuts on the poorest and most vulnerable people in society, the uneducated, the disabled and the sick; the slightly less rich, slightly less sneering, slightly less patronising Labour party, refusing to over turn any of the vicious experimental policies the Con Dem government have implemented, and committing to carry on with austerity measures. Both sides more intent on attacking the other than actually asking us the voter how we feel, what we want or what we need.

Then of course on the fringes there are the even nastier parties such as UKIP, who charade as an anti- establishment party but is made up of Tories and bankers whos popularity seems to be on the wane, even leader Nigel Farage seems to have disappeared from our screens lately.

Amid the vulgarity of Westminster and the nastiness of the front benches have emerged a party that really does seem to offer something different.  Its representatives and members appear to be caring, individuals, hell bent on fairness.

The Green surge swept me along this week to the grandeur of Sheffield Town Hall where I met Dr Jillian Creasy, Green party parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central.

On a freezing cold morning with snow still sitting on the ground I was worried I might look out of place in the splendour of the Town Hall, dressing in my Wellies, but was relieved when Dr Creasy arrived and had also walked to the office in winter wear.

I begun by asking her if the image of the Green party gathering in the woods preventing trees from being felled or campaigning on the Ozone layer was now an outdated perception.  She said “we can’t have environmental justice without social justice”, adding that most Green campaigners now focus on the social justice- 1%of the population have 50% of the wealth, so there is extreme inequality.  It also true that the rich usually have a bigger carbon footprint due to flying in aeroplanes and driving big cars as well as the tablets, laptops, mobile phones etc. 

Dr creasy was a GP until entering politics, in some of the most poverty stricken areas of the city in some cases.  She is still on the register to practice as a locum. She said the NHS will play a massive part in the election campaign, as will all public services.

Defeated in the last election, coming in 4^th behind the main three parties I asked if she thought this year could be different. She said it felt very different to 1010 when it was all about Labour versus Lib Dem, Paul Blomfield (who won by less than 200 votes eventually) versus Paul Scriven. Both were middle aged, well spoken men with similar policies (even similar names) so it was never going to be Greens year. This time Dr Creasy believes that the Greens feel like the official opposition, although even she never expected the new popularity to take off like it has.

A public meeting with Green party leader Natalie Bennett speaking  received over 100 RSVPs in less than 90 minutes recently and there is a real growing number of volunteers turning out to knock on doors.

 I asked considering her defeat 2010 what made her decide to stand again this time?  She answered simply but in no way arrogantly that she feels she is the best person for the job- Labour has lost its way in the city and she has the profile to lead the best challenge. Notably she has previously been involved in high profile campaigns such as getting prisoners held without charge in  Guantanamo bay after the Iraq war released, and led the protests when the G8 security ministers held a summit in Sheffield.  She is leader of the Green group in Sheffield which now has 4 councillors compared to the one (her) it used to have.

I asked if she had ever become lonely in those days and considered joining one of the more high profile parties.

Absolutely not was her response without a moment’s hesitation.

I commented that watching BBCs Question Time last week I was struck by the sheer nastiness of MPs in the main parties and that whenever there is a Green party spokesperson it always seems much more dignified and less personal. I asked if this was by accident or consciously done.

Dr Creasy confirmed this is a conscious effort. She said   “I don’t dislike David Cameron or Ed Miliband, it’s their policies I dislike so there is no need to attack the person just the policy”. She continued to add that in Sheffield Paul Blomfield has led some important campaigns but with Labour backing Austerity and Mr Blomfield being a career politician looking for a cabinet position, he has to toe the line. As a member of an opposition party she isn’t lead by such ideas and can focus on the policies she really believes in such as developing local economies and encouraging people to produce their own food in Market gardens

Dr Creasy is concerned that not only is the capitalist way of life affecting us, it effects other countries as well. Capitalism works by making a few very wealthy while many are exploited. We buy most of our fruit from countries like Spain and France where it is produced using very cheap labour.  She thinks global food could be in jeopardy in the next 10-20years and projects such as Wortley Hall gardens, run by  Heeley City Farm and the Hazelhurst Community supported Aggriculture on the South East of the city,  are great examples of things we can do to not only encourage people to grow at home but educate them how to do it as well.

I asked Jillian if she thought there was a certain group of voters that had swung the way of the greens, for example the students that Nick Clegg let down so badly at the last election. She was quick to point out that it was 5 years ago and most of those students will have left University now but she dis concede that a large number of the membership is made of young people. Not just students but young people from all backgrounds, who don’t trust the  main-stream parties and said that there is also an anti UKIP feeling among members outraged by the racism and the bigotry offered by some groups. Are recent poll showed that the Greens have overtaken Labour and are the leading choice amongst 18-24 year olds.

Dr Creasy has already announced that she will stand down as a local councillor at the next election so I asked if unsuccessful, what next? Hardly planning retirement Dr Creasy suggested that she will spend time campaigning for the NHS as well as the healthy eating projects she will undoubtedly be involved in even  if she is elected.

When I asked Dr Creasy if she would allow me an hour of her time to conduct this interview I also asked three Labour MPs from Sheffield, two of whom are standing  down at the next election. One of them declined immediately ( via her personal assistant) and one didn’t reply yet. The other replied but neglected to mention the interview. 

When most people compile their fantasy dinner date guest list it usually comprises of the same people- Nelson Mandela, Mohamed Ali, Martin Luther King etc., etc. For me, the first name on that list has always been Keith Edwards. Over 30 years ago, as an 11 year old boy, I somehow managed to discover where my then favourite footballer, Keith Edwards lived. After sharing the information with my friend, David Brown, the two of us dared each other to turn up and knock on his door. Much to our delight Edwards invited us into his home and happily signed our souvenir posters. We were probably in his house for less than 10 minutes but the memory of meeting the man will probably stay with me for ever.

This 10 minute meeting elevated Keith Edwards from being my favourite player to the head of the top table on my fantasy dinner guest list. Admittedly there were more predictable names on the list-James Dean, Marlon Brando, John Wayne and the likes, although the majority are dead. 
In the absence of a medium to contact any of them, I set about trying to find top of the list, Keith Edwards.

Keith Edwards played for Sheffield United in 1981, finishing the season with 36 goals; a post war record still held today. He is one of a select -few players to have scored over 250 goals in his professional career.  

He now commentates for BBC radio Sheffield on United’s games.

I have tried for years to track him down, in the deluded hope that I could persuade him to allow me to write his biography. (He recently published the book without me)

.

 I searched the internet, searched face book, twitter and any other website I could find, but the elusive Mr Edwards was nowhere to be found. I even emailed the radio station, but got no reply.

I had all but given up when a friend at work told me that his mates Dad is friends with Keith. Although I was undeniably impressed, I thought little else of it until a few days later when he told me he had fixed up a meeting with me and Keith Saturday morning to do an interview..
Friday night felt like Christmas Eve. I could barely sleep. It actually felt like I was a small boy with an appointment to interview Father Christmas.

Then the fear set in. What if the man I had blindly worshipped for so many years turned out to not live up to the legend? What if he was awful? What if he thought I was?

Despite having only a few hours’ sleep after being up until the small hours trawling the internet once more, trying to find some inspirational questions, I awoke Saturday morning bright and early. (Much like a child does on Christmas day). I set off in plenty of time to the agreed location, his local golf course and arrived 15 minutes early. I entered the building nervously, wondering if I had got the right place.

Three ageing gentleman were sat watching TV as I walked in and all three of them turned to face me. I told the men that I thought I was there to meet Keith Edwards. One of the men confirmed I was in the right place and another followed up with “he’ll be here any minute – you’ll hear him.” While this seemed to amuse his companions it only served to fuel my nerves. I was ushered into a waiting area, where I sat alone for 5 minutes getting ever more nervous by the minute. At one point I almost persuaded myself to turn and run, leave him in the distant past as a childhood memory, never quite sure if I imagined the whole thing. Just then a well-tanned gentleman entered the room with another man and distracted me with a story about Sticky Vicky in Benidorm.

What seemed like an eternity later, Keith Edwards walked in, and at exactly the time we had agreed. We went through to a lounge area where Keith directed me to a table. It wasn’t quite a fantasy dinner party but coffee with the man at the top of my wish list was close enough. Not only were we to have coffee together, he was actually making it for me.
He entered into some banter about his book with a couple of by-standers while making the coffee as I sat trying desperately to look like this was no big deal.

The first thing he did when he sat down was apologise for taking a while to respond to the invitation but he had been very busy working.

To give the day some context I told him about my visit aged 11 and tied this to my first question. I asked that considering so many look to him with a kind of hero worship, was he aware of this in everyday life, and asked if this makes him consciously act in a certain way. He replied that he hoped football hadn’t changed him. He said that he was often arrogant on the field and is sometimes accused of being when he is on the radio, but actually in real life that’s not him and at the end of the of the day he’s a council lad. (Could the answer have been any closer to my heart?) He went on to say that he grew up in house with older brothers and if he was too cocky he would have got a good hiding- and sometimes did...
He continued that he came into football late after working in the cheese factory. When he isn’t on the radio, he now works as a lorry driver.

Next I informed him that according to the internet, he had scored 256 goals in his career and asked did he remember any of them? He proudly told me that he remembered them all but not before he had corrected me that they were just the league goals. He said you name a game and I will tell you the score and how I scored it.

When asked if the game today had changed from the game he played in, he acknowledged that the players are fitter and the centre backs can turn quicker but the nets he scored in were quite similar to the ones used today.

The arrogance he warned me of stayed well hidden for the most part but when we talked about the 4^th division campaign where he scored his 36 goals, he told me bluntly that he found that league easy. He said he was too good for that league, which he undoubtedly was. He thinks the following season in the third division was a better haul and mentioned the contribution of the brilliant Colin Morris.

I referred to my 18 year old nephew, who, when told that Keith had a book out commented that he should be United manager. This seemed to please Keith. He looked proud that someone who had never seen him play respected his opinion as a commentator.
His response to the suggestion of his being a manager was that you don’t go from lorry driver/ radio commentator to being a football manager.

Turning to the current Blades team, I said a colleague at work that supports rival Sheffield Wednesday, had said recently that the media circus surrounding the club had meant that he hadn’t realised that United were actually 5^th in the league and doing rather well.
Keith picked up on my inference that the media focus on negatives related a story from his playing days. In an away game to Blackburn he scored his 200^th league goal, making the score 1-1 at half time. Blackburn ran out 5-1 winners in the end and when asked by a journalist what he thought to the performance Keith said “I thought it was even in the first half and even worse in the second”.

My hour with Keith passed quickly; too quickly. I could have sat there quite happily for whole day but I didn’t want to outstay my welcome and finished my round of questions bang on the hour we had agreed on.

My fears that Keith Edwards might in some way not live up to my expectations were completely unfounded. He was entertaining, polite, humble and human. It was an absolute pleasure talking to him. Most journalists have to work many years before they get to interview their heroes, I have interviewed mine before I even have the right to call myself a journalist.

On November 25^{th 1984   Bob} Geldof and Midge Ure put together the greatest names in contempory pop to make a record to raise money for starving Ethiopians. Band Aid went on to be the biggest selling single of all time, (although this was later surpassed by Elton John’s tribute to Princess Dianna, Candle in the wind ’97).

In todays technological age is hard to appreciate the enormity of what the record meant to music fans. As a 13 year old boy I vividly remember the excitement of seeing so many world renowned artists in one place. In 1984 CD’s were a thing of the future and downloads were unheard of. Do they know it’s Christmas was produced on vinyl and if you wanted a copy the option was to go to a shop and buy it.

Never before had so many famous singers appeared on one record. Considering that there were no texts or emails, no mobile phones or skype, just the telephone – just contacting those involved must have been a huge effort. Bob Geldof managed it through pure grit and determination forcing almost every living artist of the time to turn up. This was no ordinary super group either. The performers were not of a single genre but consisted of almost every ones favourite, what-ever your taste. My sister and I thought we were rebelling by being U2 fans and were delighted to see them turn up and sing on the track.

Some of those involved were U2, Phil Collins, Paul Young, Simon Lebon, Paul Weller, George Michael, Boy George and Sting, even Paul McCartney showed up. Almost all of those involved performed the record live on BBC’s Christmas top of the pops, which at that time was almost as big as the Queens speech for anybody under the age of 18. I still recall listening in awe to the B side where the likes of Bono had recorded a “merry Christmas and a happy new year “ message.

Such was the success of the record that the following year the biggest free concert ever seen was performed at London’s Wembley Stadium. The concert was broadcast live and ran simultaneously with a similar event in Philadelphia USA.

The Queen set is still considered by many as the greatest live performance ever, with Freddy Mercury leading over 72,000 fans in singing Bohemian Rhapsody, we are the champions and memorably Radio Ga Ga, where it seems every single person in the crowd joined in with the hand clap.

5 years later they did it again with considerably less success as the likes of Bros, Kylie Minogue, Cliff Richard and Jason Donavan tried to repeat the act assisted by popular producers Stock, Aitkin and Waterman.

To mark the 20^th anniversary of the original track the ensemble was re-gathered, this time including Robbie Williams (via satellite from LA), Will Young, Dido, Busted and Bono once again made a guest appearance.

Now Sir Bob Geldof has put together todays biggest stars, one direction, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Olly Murrs and Bono. All the stars involved gave their time and sang a new version of the original to raise money for the Ebola virus in West Africa.

In April this year, Sir Bob’s daughter, Peaches Geldof died of a heroin overdose. Her mum Paula Yates died in September 2000 on the 10^th birthday of daughter Pixie. Yates youngest daughter,  Tiger lily who she gave birth to after a relationship with INXS frontman Michael Hutchins before his death, was taken on and brought up by Sir Bob.

Despite the man’s saintly nature and undoubtable best intentions, many people have criticised Band Aid 30. They have claimed there are better ways to give money and condemned the likes of Bono for not paying taxes. Others have called the record patronising for its lyrics.

These people are missing the point. The record will give the chance of life to many Africans. More than that they are giving millions of music fans the opportunity to see the biggest super group they have ever heard of. We have become such a bitter and miserable nation that we would rather just hand over our coppers for nothing than celebrate an event. To many people of my age, Live Aid was our Kennedy shooting. Ask any 40 something where they watched live aid and most will be able to tell you.

Yes, people need to pay their dues. Yes the rich and famous should pay more than the rest of us but for Gods sake stop politicising every single act of kindness and accept it for what it is, a song!

Former professional footballer and convicted rapist Ched Evans was released from prison just over a week ago, after serving just two and a half years of a five year sentence. Since he release so much has been said and written that even high-brow shows like the BBC’s This Week have discussed the case. Life- long Sheffield united fan and journalist Charlie Webster appeared on the show urging the club not to re-sign the former striker.

On day time favourite loose women, Judy Finnegan felt a backlash after seemingly defending Evans. In a vile twist her own daughter Chloe Madeley received threats on social media site Twitter following the airing of the show. I’m not suggesting this is representative of the people supporting Evans claim that he was wrongly accused, but it certainly raises more questions about the moral attitude of some individuals.

In this country we pride ourselves on the old adage that a man is assumed innocent until proven guilty. This is the only way to run a free society otherwise there could simply be a free for all with men and women making false accusations every time they want to wreck somebody’s life. We must defend this ideal. Some might say that it is equally important that once someone is convicted and has paid the price that they are allowed rehabilitation and have a right to restart their life. In many cases it is a major contributor in preventing reoffending.

Ched Evans was found guilty and was sent to prison.

He has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so. It is therefore unreasonable to expect the man to apologise for the rape, at least until his appeal has run its course. His appeal is largely based it seems on the fact that the teenage girl was a willing if drunken participant.   

His new defence team are said to be confident they can overturn the verdict. Until their confidence becomes reality, their client was tried and found guilty of a disgusting crime and is at present a convicted rapist and the lady in question is the victim of that crime. it is therefore wholly innapropriate to publicly call into question her morals.Shortly before his conviction I wrote an article called oh Lord where art thou, in which I talked about my childhood experience of meeting my own sporting hero, Keith Edwards.

When I was 10 year old, I somehow managed without the aid of the internet to find out where Mr Edwards lived. My friend and I turned up unannounced at his door, posters in hand, hoping that he might sign them for us. Not only did he sign them, he invited us into his home, apparently oblivious of the intrusion of his privacy, and made us feel very special. It is a memory that has stayed with me vividly to this day. Although it didn’t seem so at the time, (and probably wasn’t then) but what happened that day was to him no doubt, part of his job. He was a role model. He was worshipped by thousands of men, women, boys and girls and along with that adoration comes responsibility.

Like being a politician, or a film star, or a radio presenter, being showered with the privileges and opportunities that celebrity status brings you, being a professional sportsman demands that you act in a fit and proper manner.

Let’s assume for a nanosecond that Evans’ claims of innocence are found to be true. Let’s assume that the lady involved invited him and his friend (also a footballer), to have sex with her in a hotel room. Evans had a girlfriend and also had an army of impressionable fans that sought to emulate his behaviour. He not only had a responsibility to his family, his girlfriend and his fans he had a duty to his drunken victim, a duty to behave in a manner that the position bestowed upon him demanded. He failed.

Were Ched Evans a school teacher he would not be allowed to continue teaching. If he were a policeman he would not be allowed to serve again. Some would argue that he isn’t in contact with vulnerable people but my experience and his own show that clearly being a footballer potentially brings the vulnerable public to your door. For this reason I would urge not just Sheffield United to ignore his talents on the field but I would urge all clubs to ignore Ched Evans. I’m not saying he should never be allowed to earn a living again. I’m not suggesting he hasn’t been punished already. Whether I think the sentence given was light or indeed strong is irrelevant. The fact is that a convicted rapist is not a fit and proper person that should be allowed to be adored by fans singing his name and wearing his name on their backs. If he finds employment in anonymity and is allowed to continue the rest of his life working in a mundane 9-5 normal job then fair enough.

Times have changed, and sadly most right minded parents would not let their children knock on a stranger’s door without a chaperone like I did over 30 years ago, but nor would I want my children to respect a man that behaves like Ched Evans did.
 

Despite suggestions that Rotherham council and South Yorkshire Police tried to cover the horrific exploitation and sexual abuse of over a thousand children for fear of being politically incorrect, it is now well documented that the perpetrators were mainly of Pakistani origin. There has been widespread condemnation of PCC Sean Wright; indeed I called for his resignation here two weeks ago. He finally did the right thing and stepped down last week.

Last week end Joyce Thacker, director of children’s services agreed to leave her £180,000 job, by mutual consent, following strong criticism of her part in the failings.

Council leader Roger Stone, chief executive Martin Kimber and Wright had already stepped down before her.

Ms Thacker, who was forced to defend her decision in 2012 to remove three children from foster carers because they voted UKIP.

What this whole sorry episode has done is open the doors of Rotherham and neighbouring towns to UKIP and even less savoury groups such as the English Defence League. The EDL had a strong presence in Rotherham last Saturday where their thuggish supporters ran amok in the town intimidating shoppers and generally being antisocial. Also present on Saturday were around 200 protesters including a Muslim protest group.

Chief executive of the British Ramadhan foundation, Mohammed Shafiq said “we want to see justice for the victims, and we want the community to come together to say not in our name”. Mr Rafiq went on to say “There has been utter systematic failings in South Yorkshire Police. We want to see the system that has failed these girls changed so that people believe the victims rather than labelling them as prostitutes or a lifestyle choice.”  

This is absolutely where the focus should be going forward. It is not appropriate for politicians elected to serve the public to trample over each other desperately trying to score cheap points for their parties. It is obscene to say this is the fault of the Labour party, the Tory party or any other party. This is the fault of wicked men who systematically groomed, abused, raped threatened and violently tortured young girls. It is not right to say all Asian men have no respect for white women.

 It is easy to point the finger at a police force already on the ropes, following the damning Hillsborough enquiry and the report into violence against minors at the Orgreave site in the 1980’s. It is easy to blame the beleaguered Mr Wright, who clung to his job probably longer than he should. It easy to raise the point that less than 20% of the electorate turned out to vote in the PCC elections, it is clear that the role is now in question and the Government (whichever colour rosette they wear) has to think very carefully about whether the role should be scrapped and replaced with a body that can itself be held to account.

None of these things will help the victims.

The harrowing tales told by some of the victims brave enough to speak out, is enough to make one ashamed to live in Yorkshire and in some cases, ashamed to be a man.

One victim, who called herself Sarah, told the BBC that police found her naked in the bed of a man when she was just 11 years old and they left without taking any action. The girl, who was in care at the time, tells how she was taken to a house where there were two Asian men waiting, and another girl showed her what to do. The two girls were naked by the bed when police arrived but despite making clear eye contact with the terrified victims, the police left the property, leaving the children behind to be abused until the next day.

When Sarah reported the abuse, which she says went on for over 5 years and involved more than 40 men; she says police accused her of lying.

Another victim, who calls herself Jessica in the article, claims she was groomed for two years by a man who picked her up in his car when she was just 14. Her father went to [police four times to report the abuse but officers told him that if she chose to hang around with these men she was consenting, effectively saying she deserved it.

Others tell of being raped once a week every week while their families were being threatened and intimidated yet police and local authorities did nothing to protect them, presumably feeling the victims deserved it.

It was not just abuse from the perpetrators it was abuse of power by the authorities. People who earned a good living to protect vulnerable children and families betrayed the trust that their position offered them.

It is true the victims deserve justice. They deserve an apology. They deserve an explanation why this abuse went on for years and years without being opposed. They deserve to know that this will kind of abuse will never ever happen again.

In my previous blog post two weeks ago, I called the scandal the perfect political storm. Politicians, social services, police authorities, and the Pakistani community have all been accused. I too called for Sean Wright to resign, but there are still other aspects which remain largely unreported. It is a fact that the vast majority of the victims were poor vulnerable children. Many were in care and many others came from poor working class families. The establishment’s lack of respect for working class females lays at the heart of the events that took place in Rotherham.

This sort of organised abuse and abandonment by the authorities simply does not exist in middle class lives. Imagine a wealthy business man and his well-tailored solicitor walking into a police station to report such crimes being sent on their way or threatened with arrest.

Removing the people from office that were responsible for allowing the abuse is not enough. Stiff prison sentences for the vile men who committed these despicable offences is not enough. There needs to be a mechanism put in place to ensure that this sort of crime can never happen again.

David Cameron and Ed Miliband need to stand up and be counted. They need to apologise to the victims and they need to say which ever one of runs the country in future must absolutely guarantee that this type of abandonment of poor vulnerable working class females will not be tolerated no matter what colour or religion the accused are.

The way the police deal with sexual assault victims needs immediate overhaul. It is unacceptable that a victim be told by police that it will be their word against the attackers. It is unacceptable that child victims are forced to face courts and accused of being liars or called slappers by solicitors. Obviously there needs to be a level of protection from malicious accusations but there must be a system where victims of such life destroying crimes feel comfortable that they will be believed and treated with dignity rather than being forced to relive the nightmare.

Anyone who is employed as a social worker or police officer must empowered to take difficult decisions and be open minded to reports of crimes regardless of the colour of the accused or the social standing of the victim’s family. Communities must stand together and say we will no longer tolerate our young being treated with such little respect; we will no longer tolerate people employed to protect, turning a blind eye to these behaviours.

The Asian community has to stand side by side with neighbouring communities and say this is not acceptable. While we continue to have pockets of ethnic minorities concentrated into areas such as Rotherham or Sheffield’s Page Hall. Integration is the answer. Forget pandering to extreme groups like EDL or the respectable face of racism UKIP and blaming immigrants, forget fear of offending ethnic groups of people, integrating people of all races into all places is the way to solve the problem. Community leaders and local politicians need to do more to help the multi-cultural society we are so proud of, become one community. We need to stop demonstrating against the building of a mosque and take the time to educate ourselves about how vast majority of law abiding peace loving immigrants live in reality.

 If we can begin to have this kind of existence and rid ourselves of the ignorance blighting the lives of victims such as those of Rotherham, we can begin to ensure never again will anyone be afraid to speak out or stand up and be counted for fear of being lambasted

The victims deserve it.

       

 

 

 

Rotherham; the perfect political storm.

An independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation set up in 2013 by Rotherham Council was published on August 26^th. Its findings have placed a spotlight on the South Yorkshire town the likes of which has never been seen before.   The inquiry found that an estimated 1200 children had been sexually exploited between 1997 and 2013.

Although systematic grooming and abuse by predominantly Pakistani men had been reported to the authorities, the terrible crimes had gone unpunished for two decades. The fact that the men accused of trafficking, kidnapping and rape were of Pakistani origin was largely covered up by social services and the police for fear of accelerating racial hatred in the area.

Members of the Pakistani community condemned both the crimes and the cover up.

South Yorkshire police commissioner Sean Wright has refused to step down from his £85,000 a year job despite being head of children’s services during much of the period when the attacks took place, before being elected in 2012. His deputy, Tracey Cheetham resigned this week, saying she could no longer support him (wright) nor could she continue to be his deputy and called on him to also resign. There is no suggestion that Ms Cheetham had any connection to the appalling scandal but feelings are running so high in the town that a local council meeting was interrupted by locals, furious that the grooming and abuse had continued despite appeals for the local police to act.

Deputy leader of Rotherham council released a statement apologising for the council’s failings, but Mr Wright still refuses to stand down although he has now quit the Labour party.

This not only highlighted the abuse in Rotherham but the ridiculous idea that the man charged with holding the police force to account cannot be held to account.   

A document published in 2012 by the home office called Have you got what it takes to be police and crime commissioner states “as PCC you will have a responsibility to hold the police to account on behalf of the public” it goes on to say “you will provide the link between the police and communities”. It also lists other responsibilities as delivering safety and reducing crime.

It is quite clear that not only is Mr Wright not fit to continue in the post but that he should never have been given the role in the first place.

The position of PCC was widely criticised when it was introduced and voting was remarkably low in the elections. Surely now it is time that all PCC’s were removed. Whoever is in charge of the police force must be able to be held accountable.

Many of the victims in Rotherham were vulnerable children in care; children that were already on the books of social services. As head of children’s services it is implausible to believe Wright knew nothing of the abuse happening on his watch. This means he was either incredibly incompetent or implicit in turning a blind eye – either way a vote of no confidence must passed on him and he should be removed and banned from holding public office again.

Rotherham in recent years has been the scene of many demonstrations from groups such as the English defence league and UKIP. The lack of action by Rotherham council for fear of upsetting the Asian communities has done nothing to help that situation but has helped right wing parties like UKIP gain a foothold in the once labour dominated area.

In the local elections in May UKIP won 10 of the 21 seats in Rotherham, and 3 seats in neighbouring Sheffield.  While many will feel this was a protest vote aimed at the main parties and particularly Labours refusal to offer a referendum on Europe.  What it actual does is paves the way for more extreme right wing parties like the BNP to target the area.

Failing to investigate crimes because they may have been committed by Pakistani men is irresponsible and dangerous. Local councils and police authorities must send out a clear message that these sorts of crimes will not be tolerated by people of any gender, age or ethnicity and anybody or group of people found guilty of these crimes must be punished to the fullest. Boys, girls, women and men have the right to feel safe and be protected by the police and the government.

Mr Wright was forced to cancel a public surgery in Barnsley today due to no members of the public booking an appointment. This sends a blunt message to the commissioner who still hangs on despite calls from the prime minister, the home secretary and leader of the labour party Ed Miliband for him to fall on his sword. Let us hope that today’s message that he is no longer wanted gives him the courage to finally do the right thing and go.

This boy.  

 

Although I generally find political biographies quite tedious and self-obsessed, occasionally I enjoy reading them. I recently spoke to a colleague who had just read This Boy by former Home secretary, Alan Johnson. I have always had a bit of soft spot for Mr Johnson, based almost entirely on the fact that he was General Secretary of the communication workers union, of which I used to be a member when I followed my father and grandfather in to working for the Royal Mail when I left school. The colleague who had read the book had done so on kindle but recommended it so I thought I might purchase it for my holiday book (I always take one on holiday each year). Unable to find it in Asda’s best sellers, I decided to venture online and look on Amazon. I soon found a used copy priced quite reasonably at £2.50 in good condition, only read once.

I’m not suggesting the vendor lied, he may well have only read the book once, but it looked as though it had been well handled more than once. The dog eared pages looked like they had been used as a splatter guard and the corners of the cover were torn. In fact were it not for the British heart foundation 99p sticker on the spine, I suspect the yellowed pages may have fallen out.

 

 

Despite its weathered appearance I decided to keep it and read the first couple of chapters before my holiday just to whet my appetite.

Mr Johnson was born in London in 1950. 1950 was just 21 years before I was born in the wintery January of 1971. As I already said, my Dad worked as a humble postman. We lived in a modest 3 bedroom council house, which my parents still live in (although they took advantage of Thatcher’s right to buy in the 80’s). When I was born the house needed lots of work doing to it. The kitchen still boasted an old fashioned pantry and the three gardens that living on a corner plot gave us, needed hours and hours of attention from my Mum to get them to the state of splendor they offer today. Old steel window frames and single glazing offered little warmth in the days before central heating but we had an inside toilet.

What struck me immediately about Alan Johnson’s book was the huge difference between the working class poorness I grew up in and the absolute horrendous poverty that he described experiencing just 20 years prior. With a father that offered little or nothing in the way of house-keeping or paternal instinct, Johnson early years in the slums sounded like they were a hundred years before I was born. I was amazed to think of how far we had progressed in just two short decades. He talks of having no gas or electric in the house until they were moved and then the way they had to put money in the slot to obtain services we all take for granted today, as we did in 1971. Then there was the emergence of TV, which in 1950 was almost unheard of in a council house. By ’71 almost everyone had a set, even though we only had 3 channels to choose from. He talks of playing in the street safely as there were hardly any cars on the road. Although I owned a car before my father finally got rid of his Honda 90 motor cycle, cars certainly were not unusual by the time I was born. Such massive changes are hard to comprehend now days.

20 years ago John Major was prime minister, Labour leader John Smith died of a heart attack and Fred and Rose West were charged with murder. The channel tunnel was officially opened in 1994 and Wet Wet Wet’s Love is all around us was number 1 in the charts for what seemed an eternity.

A bomb exploded outside the Israeli embassy injuring 15 people and Harry Styles of One Direction was born, as was my first son. All of these things feel like they happened quite recently to me and yet the 20 year gap is the same vast chasm between my birth and that of Alan Johnson.

Fiercely proud of my working class roots, I never considered myself to be fortunate or privileged until I read This Boy.

I wonder how far we will all come in the next 20 years by which time my son will be forty (3 years younger than I am now). Will we still be in austerity enforced upon us by ideological Tory governments or will there be a new party in power?

 It was announced today that Boris Johnson intends to stand once more in next year’s general election. The news came as no surprise really, as many believe he will be the next leader of the conservative party. Whether that will be as Prime minister or leader of the opposition will depend largely on the popularity in the next 12 months of Ed Miliband.

Despite the Tories being consistently behind Labour in the polls for some time, leader Ed is equally as consistent at polling lower than Cameron. This is often credited to Miliband’s geekiness and lack of photogenic qualities. The media would have us believe it is because he is unable to eat bacon sandwich without looking ugly. Others say it due to his links to the trade unions which elected him while others blame it on his brother David, who many still believe would have and should have been a better leader.

Others would say that it is because like the Tories, Miliband is out of touch with the reality facing ordinary people, being paid low wages and living in over-priced properties. Consecutive Labour governments did little to ease the housing crisis, continuing to sell off stock while failing to address the growing waiting lists for social housing. They did even less to repeal the ant- trade union laws that the Tories would strengthen if re-elected in 2015. Prime minister David Cameron insists on referring to trade union pay masters every week in Prime ministers questions in spite of the fact that few of the current crop of Labour MPs have had real jobs any more than the other side of parliament.

Men and women from council estates and trade unions are almost extinct in parliament these days and reading Alan Johnsons This Boy, makes it crystal clear what the current batch miss out on. Alan Johnson understands what it is like to have to have two or three jobs to pay the bills. He understands the needs of council tenants and he knows the issues they face. He understands the community spirit and the pride of working class families.

I have written before of the need for more working class MPs and the need for more trade unionized MPs. Former Labour MP Denis Macshane called for working class shortlists but the amount of MPs who didn’t attend Oxbridge Universities continues to recede. The trade union paymasters of the labour party needs to demand more candidates from a normal background and the system which prohibits all but the wealthy from becoming a politician is in need of a major overhaul. Maybe then, possibly in 20 years’ time I might be able to give a voice back to normal people, stand against Boris and be an MP myself.