Off Topic Politics Thread

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And Laurence Fox. Abominable people on an abominable channel. I thought there was a pause on transmission that could have cut the unsavoury comments.

Yeah, but the Wootton thing is an Al Capone style suspension. Get him over a smaller misdeed before the major **** starts hitting the fan (there's another Byline piece on him coming out today, in a coincidence that is a surprise to nobody).
 
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The option to carry firearms is voluntary. If an officer isn't in the right head space to carry then he/she has every right not to draw weapons prior to the start of their shift. I appreciate that the politics thread is generally a left leaning space but **** me, defund the police? This is another nonsense carry over from the good old US of A where their police departments are buying up surplus military stock. If the police in England are Wales were any further defunded there'd be none left.

AFO's are not paid more than there unarmed counterparts. It is a voluntary role which is subject to more scrutiny then anywhere else in the world.

If there was an aspect of your job which was entirely voluntary, didn't pay any more money and if you do it (even correctly) you could end up in front of jury of 12 people who may or may not hate your guts because of the uniform you wear, and could spend the rest of your life in prison for a split second decision you made years before, would you volunteer? Honestly?

I do think 'fund the police' would be a far better step than defunding them (further).
 
Yeah, but the Wootton thing is an Al Capone style suspension. Get him over a smaller misdeed before the major **** starts hitting the fan (there's another Byline piece on him coming out today, in a coincidence that is a surprise to nobody).
Yes, I'm sure the knives were out for him possibly Fox to. Creeps both,
 
I do think 'fund the police' would be a far better step than defunding them (further).

One of the truly brilliant aspects of Policing in E&W is the Special Constable scheme. If one genuinely (as opposed to what they're fed by social media) believes the Police are one big racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, oppressive and violent organisation*. Join. See for oneself. A couple of shifts a month. Think of the expose which could be run after and/or the potential for showing how it should be done. Or.......more likely they will see how chronically underfunded Policing actually is and what 99% of police time is taken up with. But that's too much like hard work. Much easier to pontificate behind the safety of a screen on a job they have absolutely no idea about at all. Not aimed at you LTL!



* Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that the police are both "woke" (dancing at pride, ignoring grooming gangs and virtue signalling to morons on the right) and at the same time racist, homophobic, sexist scum to morons on the left. It's almost like neither are true.
 
One of the truly brilliant aspects of Policing in E&W is the Special Constable scheme. If one genuinely (as opposed to what they're fed by social media) believes the Police are one big racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, oppressive and violent organisation*. Join. See for oneself. A couple of shifts a month. Think of the expose which could be run after and/or the potential for showing how it should be done. Or.......more likely they will see how chronically underfunded Policing actually is and what 99% of police time is taken up with. But that's too much like hard work. Much easier to pontificate behind the safety of a screen on a job they have absolutely no idea about at all. Not aimed at you LTL!



* Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that the police are both "woke" (dancing at pride, ignoring grooming gangs and virtue signalling to morons on the right) and at the same time racist, homophobic, sexist scum to morons on the left. It's almost like neither are true.

Haha, no, I know. A very good mate of mine is high up in West Mercia police now. The actions of a few aren't the overall, I'm extremely aware of that. Despite my recent somewhat disappointing encounters with policing (specifically the Met), I do recognise that much of it is because they're woefully underfunded and under resourced. I've known a lot of police in my life, and pretty much all of them (bar one) are good people.
 
Funding and transparent accountability.

The only was there could be more transparency is for BWV to be released straight away after a contentious event like they do in America. The only problem with this in our country is our justice system doesn't allow it due to its ability to prejudice a trial. The media often take complainants at face value and will publish a piece absolutely decimating a police response to an incident. By the time its gone through the courts/IOPC years later, its yesterday's news. There's almost never a follow up story explaining objectively what happened. I'd 100% be behind that sort of transparency
 
I am so pleased that we have the nice impartial GB TV it is so much better than the bigoted and biased BBC. I watch it all the time especially my three favourite hosts, Nadine, Reece- Mogg and Nigel Farage. There is even the occasional treat on occasions when Rupert Lowe is mentioned.


It serves a purpose I suppose; makes sense to keep all the lying grifters and unprincipled ****e-bags in one place.

GB News, I mean, not the Conservative Party...
 
Haha, no, I know. A very good mate of mine is high up in West Mercia police now. The actions of a few aren't the overall, I'm extremely aware of that. Despite my recent somewhat disappointing encounters with policing (specifically the Met), I do recognise that much of it is because they're woefully underfunded and under resourced. I've known a lot of police in my life, and pretty much all of them (bar one) are good people.

If I had a magic wand and unlimited budget, I'd take the following steps to try and recover faith in the police.

1) Basic Law lessons at school. Explain fully what the police can/can't do. Explain how police can escalate their use of force to match yours. Explain how even if the police are wrong the place to fight it is court
2) Release BWV of an incident straight away post incident
3) A royal commission on policing. What do the public actually want? If its attending every burglary/shoplifter, great. But Explain that cannot be done whilst attending all and every MH incident. Enshrine in law priorities.
4) Making being a police officer a serious aggrevating condition if any crimes are committed. Double sentences for police officers due to the nature of the role.
5) Invite senior public critics (I'm looking at you MP's and media moguls) and get them to a police training centre. Invite them to restrain an individual who doesn't want to be handcuffed and put in a vehicle. Get them to do it in one's and twos and film it. Remind them after the event that they were restraining someone not trying to take their head off and not off their ****ing face on gear. Film it and every time they decide to flap their gums post it underneath their tweet.


There's loads more but **** it
 
If there is one item of news that I feel needs to be addressed on this thread and that has been seriously over-looked it is the murder charge levied against the office who killed Chris Kaba. I have been following the case off and on as the incident is so shocking but this has been exacerbated by the fact that fellow firearms officers have now threatened to down tools in disgust that their collegue is facing such a serious charge. The media coverage (including the BBC) has generally been extremely poor and very biased towards the officer concerned and the police in general. A lot of the coverage has centred on the threatened mass decision for fire arms officers to down tools.

I am really shocked by this news story. Firstly, we know from past experience that the Metropolitan police force is instituationally racist. This is not a subjective views but a genuine fact. In addition, we also know from the recent case of Sarah Everard that our police forces contain a significant proportion of " rotten apples" who are quite prepared to murder the people they are employed to serve and protect. The circumstances of Chris Kaba's needs to be examined as well as he was an innocent man pursued by a team of police officer which culminated in Kaba's car being blocked in and before he was immediately shot in the head a point blank range. I am relieved that the officer has been charged with murder and, on the basis of the facts that have been made public, this feels very much like an execution carried out in public on an innocent man. I would suspect that this is likely to be even more damning that the previous killing of another innocent man, Mark Duggan. The full details will , no doubt , come out in the trial.

I feel that there are two concerning elements in this story. The first is that Chris Kaba's family needs to see justice properly served. The second element is perhaps even more serious insofar that it is clear that the armed police officers are supporting their colleague and now feel that it is acceptable to argue that the risks they undoubtedly encounter obviate the need for them to be subject to the law of the land when they behave in a seemingly criminal fashion. There seems to be no sympathy towards Mr Kaba's family nor any consideration that the police officer was very much in the wrong amd no better than a criminal himself. the media is not being at all balanced. Why is the BBC not questioning this ? Why are our newspapers siding with officers amd not sunbjecting them to scrutiny. I feel that this is an utter disgrace. The media effectively implying that it is ok for officers to kill innocent civilians regardless of the circumstances and not suffer the consequences if they either get things wrong or perpetrate a crime themselves. For me, this is chilling. It is even more frightening that untrained soldiers have been offered to cover for the resultant short fall of fire arm officers. Given the British Army's propensiy for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, it does not take a genius to realise that this will endanger the lives of more civilians in the UK.

In summary, I feel that the officer charged with murder should not be supported by his colleagues, at least in public, until the facts are known. Until the trial is over and the facts have been establisbed, they should remain impartial . To do otherwise is to suggest that they find the actions of their colleague to be acceptable. I also feel that this should be a wake up call in the UK. We have police forces in this country who are effectivley operating a shoot to-kill policy against people of colour - this is regardless of whether they are innocent or not. People on this board are quick to condemn the actions of other countries yet the case of Chris Kaba is demonstrative that our own forces are often not fit for purpose and that people of colour can no longer guarantee that these forces will protect and serve them. I am shocked that something like this can happen in the UK and disgusted that the media continually advocates the difficulty of the firearms officers' job whilst ignoring the far more chilling fate of Mr Kaba.

This is the UK's George Floyd moment albeit I feel that it is actually far worse as Chris Kaba was an innocent civilian and the officers did not even confront his - they merely shot him in cold blood. In my opinion we need to look at the behaviour of our police force and not sweep the issue of brutality against coloured people under the carpet. The law needs to be seen to be done and justice meted out. The officer in question should not escape the consequences of the law as must also be the case of those fellow officer who have condoned his action. I think it is time to defund the police and put measures in place which protect people of all races and creeds. We would condemn this behaviour if it happened in a country like Iran. The fact that it has happened in the UK makes us no better.

https://thecritic.co.uk/chris-kaba-and-the-rush-to-judgement/
 
If I had a magic wand and unlimited budget, I'd take the following steps to try and recover faith in the police.

1) Basic Law lessons at school. Explain fully what the police can/can't do. Explain how police can escalate their use of force to match yours. Explain how even if the police are wrong the place to fight it is court
2) Release BWV of an incident straight away post incident
3) A royal commission on policing. What do the public actually want? If its attending every burglary/shoplifter, great. But Explain that cannot be done whilst attending all and every MH incident. Enshrine in law priorities.
4) Making being a police officer a serious aggrevating condition if any crimes are committed. Double sentences for police officers due to the nature of the role.
5) Invite senior public critics (I'm looking at you MP's and media moguls) and get them to a police training centre. Invite them to restrain an individual who doesn't want to be handcuffed and put in a vehicle. Get them to do it in one's and twos and film it. Remind them after the event that they were restraining someone not trying to take their head off and not off their ****ing face on gear. Film it and every time they decide to flap their gums post it underneath their tweet.


There's loads more but **** it
On 3 - what specifically is a royal commission? Are there other types of commission that have less powers?

As to 5 - I’d suggest same logic could apply to many things. Invite the outspoken to properly witness a nursing shift. Or to live on universal credit for at least a month. Or to actually try and make meals for 30p (was it a meal or a day?). I guess the difference on the police side is special constables actually create an opening for it actually be something that can be done by anyone (in theory)
 
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/27/the-real-reason-they-hate-gb-news/

"It won’t stop the pile-on, though. And that’s because the pile-on isn’t really about Laurence Fox. Or Ava Evans. Or sexism. It’s about the virtual left’s burning hate for GB News. Their prim horror that there exists a news channel that thinks differently to them. Their staggeringly entitled belief that they should never have to see ‘unwoke’ commentary on TV. The Fox scandal is a Trojan horse for the longstanding urge of middle-class authoritarians to take GB News down.

Consider their frenzied condemnation of GB News as a cesspit of misogyny. Who are they kidding? For the woke left to call other people sexist is an act of industrial-strength chutzpah.


These are the people who fight for the right of men to strip off in women’s changing rooms. Who think rapists should be in women’s jails. Who turned a blind eye, or even nodded along, when Róisín Murphy was ferociously set upon by misogynists in gowns for the crime of criticising puberty blockers. Who said nowt when Kellie-Jay Keen was assaulted by a feral sexist mob in New Zealand. Who kept schtum when ex-con turned trans activist ‘Sarah Jane’ Baker told a crowd in London that if they see a TERF they should ‘punch them in the ****ing face’. Who are fine with the hounding and censure of women like Maya Forstater, Kathleen Stock, Julie Bindel and far too many others to mention, all for the wrongthink of believing sex is real.

Yes, Fox’s comments were loathsome – but so is the hypocrisy of these privileged virtue-signallers who spend their days siding with bepenised people against women and then think they can get on their high horse over a sexist jibe on a news channel. Get real, fellas."
 
The reports I had read a;; stated that Chris Kaba's car was boxed in by the police so he was unable to move the car. There was no attempt to ram the police cars. I believe a police officer got out of his car and fired a shot at point blank range through the windscreen which instantly killed Mr Kaba. My understanding was the the whole incident from the blocking in of the car that was being pursued to the shooting was a matter of seconds and it is unlikely that the police could have faced let alone assessed a risk to life incident that necessitated Mr Kaba's life being terminated in such a miniscule time frame . The period of the officer leaving his car to firing the fatal shot was supposedly less than 5 seconds. There was no record of Mr Kaba being armed in any shape or form and it would appear that no warning was issued to Mr Kaba prior to him being shot. This smacks of an extra-judicial killing.

The link to "The Critic" piece is interesting because it mentions Mr Kaba's association with crime. As far as I know, this has not been mentioned at all in any of the mainstream media. The only element of criminality appertained to the car which was no owned by Mr Kaba which was alleged to have been associated with a fire arms incident. At worse, he could have been driving the car with no insurance. I totally agree with Bell Rebeiro- Addy's comment that....

"The press have said he was a drill artist, as if that’s a way of justifying why he may have found himself in that situation, or that he’d been arrested before. But we have to realise that with our justice system, if you’re Black, from a working-class background, you’re more likely to go to jail. "

For me, this is the nub of the problem. The statistics for convictions against people of colour and the percentage of black people in jail is totally out of step with the proportions of race within society. If you are black, the police will utlimately "get you" if you commit a crime. If you resist arrest, there is a good chance there will be a threat to life. I am not condoning criminality. However, I think that the way the police dispense justice is a two tier system and the fact that Mr Kaba's life was considered by the police officer's assigned to the case to have been worthless is demonstrated by the events. White people like to pretend that the police enforce the law and that you have nothing to fear if you have done nothing wrong. They have confidence in our police services. I do not believe that people of colour, espeially from the Black / Aftica / West Indian backgrounds would feel quite so assured when we are repeatedly seeing instances when the people who are being killed by the police are largely from their own community. I whole-heartedly subscribe to the idea of no justice, no peace. I cannot understand how any upstanding and right-thinking person of whatever colour could feel different. The swiftness with which the incident took place shows the total lack of due deligence and professionalism in the manner in which the police carried out this operation. The other fire arms officer's are totally wrong to support their colleague and the fact they have downed tools in sympathy undrscores exactly why Black people can have no confidence in the police. This amounts to a shoot-to-kill policy- regardless if we are talking about murder or manslaughter.

 
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