Archive for March 3rd, 2007

Red noses beware

Saturday, March 3rd, 2007

Tim Ireland from Bloggerheads conjectures that red noses are probably illegal in Parliament Square, unless you’ve got permission from the police for such a flagrant display of political idealism of course.

Depressingly, he’s probably right, though it’ll be up to the police to decide if someone’s antics look to them like a protest. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 does not actually define what a demonstration is, leaving it to the police to decide what counts as unacceptable within the exclusion zone.

So far, the police have warned, cautioned and/or arrested people under this act for displaying lapel badges, wearing t-shirts with slogans and even for carrying magazines containing political articles. Parliament Protest has more.

This just shows once again the absurd and intrusive effects of this dreadful piece of legislation, which didn’t even succeed in its primary objective - getting rid of Brian Haw. How they must hate him in the Home Secretary’s office.

Posted in Right to Protest | 2 Comments »

Foreign offences report shows scale of Home Office chaos

Saturday, March 3rd, 2007

Suppose you’re the minister responsible for criminal records. You receive a letter telling you British citizens have committed a series of rapes, including of children, while in Germany - and administrative breakdown means their details haven’t been put on their police records. You’re told this is only the tip of the iceberg. Do you:

a) notice this sounds serious and ask for a full briefing

b) worry that some of these offenders might have been cleared to work with vulnerable people because of the gaps in the data - and divert officials to immediate investigation

c) write back saying “Thanks for the information. Keep up the good work.”

If you picked c) then congratulations: you’re fully qualified to take up Joan Ryan’s job as under-secretary of state at the Home Office.

The full report into the mess-up over offences committed abroad was released yesterday, and the headline revelations - there was a “collective failure” except on the part of ministers, apparently - have been all over the news.

But reading the whole report reveals a few more gems of Home Office chaos. (more…)

Posted in Crime, Departmental Administration | No Comments »