While I thoroughly enjoy doing my usual (often) daily Law Review (and I am soon to return to serious podcasts after a brief break) – one of the joys of having a blog with no real ‘agenda’, no deadlines and readers who seem to enjoy popping in as the mood suits them – is being able to just write about whatever has taken my interest or mood.
We will soon get a chance to vote – or abstain, forget to vote or be a militant non-voter – and it is a pity I don’t live in Cambridge. Old Holborn has decided to stand for Parliament as Guy Fawkes. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Old Holborn, but I have followed his blog, which I enjoy, and I have admired some recent rants and campaigns – most recently, with Anna Raccoon and others to free Nick Hogan on the Smoking issue. I’ll let Anna raccoon take up the story. She is to be his parliamentary agent and has boned up on the complex issues of Election Law.
“He is not interested in promoting his real life personae, in raising his profile as a person to be appointed to boards or committees, he prefers to remain anonymous.
He is not interested in belonging to a powerful group or tribe, or toeing the party line. He prefers to be independent.
Do have a look if you have time.
While I do enjoy the black and white vision of the zealous hyperventilating Labour and Tory tweeters and bloggers and their sometimes very amusing banter – the truth of the matter is that there are interesting ideas on all sides of the political spectrum and, fortunately, once the banter has been done, there is much to think about in their views and analysis.
Iain Dale came in for a lot of criticism recently (largely from the left, unfortunately) for interviewing Nick Griffin, BNP leader, for Total Politics.
I was more than happy to support Dale’s stance that interviewing Griffin is the right thing to do so that we may judge Griffin on the basis of his words and actions, not myth and tabloid hysteria. I read Iain Dale’s interview with Griffin. It is a good interview, polite but direct with some excellent touches of satire which may well have gone over Griffin’s head. For a Cambridge law graduate, Griffin is not the clearest thinker or communicator or, frankly – given his responses, the brightest knife in the box. I got the feeling, reading Griffin’s responses, that he would have been a rather dull person to teach in law tutorials – I don’t get the feeling that he has an interest in law or the rule of law! I prefer my speech free and Iain Dale has held to a much valued tradition of free speech by doing the interview. Credit where credit is due is also part of politics and life – even if we may not always be prepared to give it in public in the weeks before an election!
Read the interview with Nick Griffin?
G20 police officer hit woman ‘because she was threat’
You may remember Sgt Delroy Smellie. He stands 6ft 4″ in his bare feet, but dressed as Robocop in full body armour and wielding a police baton which he used on a young woman, he was very much a commanding presence. Unfortunately, Sgt Smellie may well have succumbed to the old Actonian aphorism on power because he seemed to think he was justified in hitting a woman because (a) he mistook a carton of orange juice she was carrying for a ‘weapon’ and (b) she did not ‘obey orders’. Telegraph
The trial continues and, rightly, we’ll have to see what the jury makes of Sgt Smellie’s conduct and defence. [Oops…I got wrong on jury – see Simon Bradshaw’s comment below which I have left!]
The trial continues and, rightly, we’ll have to see what the jury makes of Sgt Smellie’s conduct and defence.
I doubt the jury will make anything of them, as the trial is in the Magistrates’ Court in front of a DJ(MC). There can’t be many such trial that go on for four days!
Simon….aaaggggghhh.. you are absolutely right…. well… I am not the Pope… can’t get it right all the time…
Good effort for picking me up on that error…I shall leave the error ‘in situ’ so your comment makes sense!
Iain Dale came in for a lot of criticism recently (largely from the left, unfortunately) for interviewing Nick Griffin, BNP leader, for Total Politics.
it was all rather less black and white than you make it sound, charon. the debate was had on the left (and it was a debate, rather than the sound of comrades agreeing vociferously) about the many issues raised by dale’s decision. some were about the desirability of doing the interview, others about dale’s motivation for doing it. all highly valid, intelligent and not generally descending into ad hominem’s. given dale’s questionable attitude to those with whom he disagrees and his penchant for self-promotion, i thought it all very sane and relevant. that dale himself chose to mischaracterise it as totalitarians who don’t like free speech and do like censorship was pretty predictidale – consciously ignoring or failing to grasp the point. but much easier to cry censorship than engage with their argument on a rational level especially when one can boost one’s page hits or whatever it is he appears to live for. much like the fiction that dale is a neutral ‘political commentator’ rather than one who consistently espouses and publicises the views of the right. funny when they so gleefully pretend that the bbc are a trotskyite conspiracy. still … truth and a good story etc. at least when they have dismantled the bbc, the tories won’t be able to pretend that leftist propaganda is the reason people hate them.
allow me to be the pain in the arse dissenter – again.
Isn’t this the little idiot that was repeatedly told to “get back” – and, because she knows better, she moved forward at the cop.
You will recall this was in the middle of a near riot situation. How does the constable know what this little idiot is going to do – after she failed to back off after being asked several times.
I watched the festivities on Fox News – and they were amazed at the “British Police” restraint.
Nobody in this ungrateful brat of a nation thanks the police for keeping people safe and limiting the protesters’ damage to the City.
Next time, let’s just give the police the day off and let the huggy, innocent protesters do as they please.