With apologies to The Clash...
As the media discussion continues over whether the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police should resign, now that his force has been found guilty of endangering the public, some of the radio coverage I've heard raises another question.
Many of those defending Sir Ian Blair this morning referred to the mistaken shooting of Mr de Menezes as 'a one-off', 'unique'; heck, even the judge described it as "an isolated breach brought about by quite extraordinary circumstances".
Isn't that rather at odds with what we have been being told about the threat level faced by the UK? A threat level, incidentally, which has been repeatedly cited in support of legislative measures which erode civil rights.
Consider, for instance, the other recent news story - the Law Lords' ruling that the current regime of control orders must be re-thought. (Control orders are restraint orders which can be imposed where an individual is considered to represent a potential threat to security, but there isn't enough evidence to actually charge them with an offence...).
Apparently the Law Lords consider that it is unfair to impose an 18-hour-a-day curfew on an individual under a control order, but 16 hours might be OK. Think for a moment about the implications of that: it effectively bars anyone under a control order from full time employment. Oh, and they can't get a job where tele-commuting is a viable option, because the control orders forbid them from having internet access.
The system has some serious shortcomings: seven out of up to 30 subjects of control orders have simply legged it and disappeared. It's also riddled with inconsistency: when one man absconded after being issued with a control order, the Home Office said he was "not believed to represent a direct threat to the public in the UK". Which seems like a somewhat gauzy justification for placing someone under effective house arrest.
Incidentally, if the "Blair must go" story is giving you a cognitive feedback loop...
Sir Ian Blair (Met Commissioner) is the one still in the headlines who
would rather he wasn't. Tony Blair (ex PM) is the one who has vanished
from the headlines and probably wishes he hadn't. To refresh your
memory, have a look at his great cover of the same Clash number.
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