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A £1,000 reward for giving evidence is a bad enough start. How many people would be prepared to make sure that their "evidence" is suitably strong as to require them to give it if there was £1,000 waiting for them once they do?!??! Making matters worse is the fact that this woman was not just the ONLY person to agree to give evidence but the only person to make a complaint of any kind. Does this mean that other people were afraid to speak up? Possibly, and that is a disgrace. Does this mean that she made it all up to get her "moment" and her "money"? Possibly, and that is a disgrace too! The biggest question here is WHY WEREN'T THE POLICE DEALING WITH THIS SITUATION? Of course, the answer is simple... They are too busy keeping an eye on the traffic to ensure the influx of fines. Too busy chasing armed robbers who get away with millions of pounds and are NEVER caught. Too busy battering down the front doors of people's houses and shooting 20-year old men for SUSPECTED terrorist activity based on a TIP-OFF! Not to mention the whole business of shooting Brazilian's to death! If the police were actually allowed to do their job properly then surely the general public would not need to run scared from these thugs in the first place. But, joking aside, consider this... If the general public are now doing the job that we pay the police to do, i.e. protect us from common thugs and criminals, then what is it that the police are doing that is more important? When answering this question bear in mind that we pay a vast amount of money to the police forces of the UK to do their job and, one must assume, to some degree they should be seen to be earning their money. The article gets worse the more you read too... Blair wants to set up a system of National Parenting Academies for parents who have "problem" children. Which leads on to two initial questions:
Before you answer the latter remember that the government is currently selling out your "work/life balance" by ignoring the EU directive that clearly allows for people to work for no more than 48 hours per week by trying to get agreement for a 65 hour week (full story HERE) Blair claims that he also wants to INTRODUCE NEW powers to shut down "problem properties". We believe that the legislation is already in place to do that and we told you all about it HERE. "...forcing local councils to take action, new laws to ensure unruly children can be dealt with at a young age before they become a serious menace and action against "neighbours from hell." FORCING? Somebody has to explain to me why a local council would need the least bit of forcing of any kind to crack down on drug dealers and the like. But how are they going to force them? Well, believe it or not, councils are going to have their funding cut if they are not issuing the "correct" number of fines and ASBO's REGARDLESS of whether or not they find good reason to give them out in the first place! UNRULY CHILDREN? The definition of unruly? Well, according to the Miriam Webster dictionary it is primarily "not submissive to government or control"... Why is the word government the first thing that scares me there??? So, essentially, this entire set of new laws and regulations is based on the single premise that ANYBODY who is not submissive to the government can be included in the process of prosecution. Sounds alarmist? Then consider this... People are currently being branded criminals for using the wrong litter bin for the wrong rubbish, for using their recycling bin incorrectly, for eating an apple whilst driving a car...How long will it be before EVERYBODY fails to be a law abiding citizen? So if everybody can be punished under this new system of laws anyway then surely the fact that it can ALSO be applied to anyone who refuses to be "submissive" to their government is nothing short of terrifying. Congestion charges, parking fines, littering, loud music, road tolls, refusal to have a biometric passport or an ID Card or a thumb scan or ALL THREE! These are the first things off the top of my head that can now and WILL now be included under this ridiculous set of laws and it is frightening that people are just letting it happen. And don't even get me started on the hearsay evidence required to dub your neighbour a "neighbour from hell" and have them removed from their homes and placed into "secure communities". |
Monday 5th June 2006 | The Press Association
A woman who single-handedly took on a drug-dealing gang on her estate will advise Tony Blair on how best to deal with yobbish behaviour.
She is part of a panel of frontline "experts" invited to join a high-level Downing Street meeting to discuss progress on the Prime Minister's "Respect" agenda.
A senior police officer, social services chief and senior council officers will also join Mr Blair and senior ministers at the cabinet committee meeting.
Mr Blair launched his Respect action plan in January, promising it would "restore the liberty of the law-abiding citizen" by cracking down on yob culture.
It included a raft of measures from increased on-the-spot fines for disorder, powers to shut down problem properties and a National Parenting Academy.
The Prime Minister has made tackling the issue a key aim of Labour's third term.
The member of the public joining them - who has not been named - won a Home Office award for her efforts to prevent neighbours being intimidated by the gang.
She was the only resident of the estate prepared to give evidence against them openly in court, leading members of her family to be targeted by the gang. Eventually her actions helped get the gang leader served with an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) banning him from the area for seven years.
In a bid to encourage others to give evidence and share her experience with other victims, she then used her £1,000 "taking a stand" prize money to set up an advice hotline.
The meeting is expected to focus on three main aspects of the agenda - forcing local councils to take action, new laws to ensure unruly children can be dealt with at a young age before they become a serious menace and action against "neighbours from hell".
