At fringe meeting at the moment organised by the Centre for Social Justice. The event was due to be chaired by Iain Duncan Smith, however, his wife is undergoing chemotherapy and therefore he is unable to attend. We all wish his wife, Betsy, well.
The first speaker was Ray Mallon, a former senior police officer and currently the Mayor of Middlesbrough. It was a highly entertaining ten minute speech. Ray speaks from the heart. He spoke about the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour and attacked the government for its abdication of responsibilities. He said he was trying to reduce anti-social behaviour in spite of the government and wants the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) removed. One thing I agree with was his analogy that it was easier to intervene in the case of two police officers' child minding arrangements, rather than tackle anti-social behaviour. Towards the end of his speech he said a Conservative government will be judged by its leadership.
David Ruffley, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, then spoke for ten minutes. A good speech, but he certainly doesn't have the charisma of Mallon. He said what we all knew. A Conservative government will reduce paperwork and amend health and safety legislation to let the emergency services use their discretion. He said the police authority in Leicestershire was not holding the chief constable to account. Elected police commissioners are what is needed, which I agree with. Mr Ruffley also agreed anti-social behaviour has been ignored for too long and ended by saying ho no-one trusts the crime statistics. Well, there are lies, damned lies and statistics and does anyone believe anything any government says?
The meeting is continuing with a Q&A session. I think we all agree on one thing; a Conservative government will have to be radical and let the police take charge, reduce the paperwork and tackle anti-social behaviour head-on. All of us at the meeting voted in a straw poll and wanted Ray Mallon as our elected police chief. If only!
3 comments:
I have a lot of Time for Ray, very good man. I met him when I stood for Parliament up there. Hardest handshake ever :-)
He does have a firm handshake, I agree. After the meeting, when I told him I was originally from Bishop Auckland, he face lit up and he said, 'You'll know everywhere I'm talking about.' He is very genuine and much straighter than Mr Ruffley whom I found cagey.
There were very practical points put by Ray Mallon and they would work. These will no doubt be written up by us at some point.
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