The problems with Labour’s plans for speeding up justice are the subject of my latest article for the Asian Voice. You can read it here.
Racism may be the cost of speeding up justice
Imagine you are watching the news on TV and up pops someone saying, “Youknow, the big problem with our criminal justice system is that it takes solong and costs so much to deal with many crimes. We need to speed uppunishment for minor crimes so that people get punished and fined quicklyand everyone can move on and spend more time on more serious crimes.” Itwould sound quite sensible wouldn’t it? Who wouldn’t be in favour ofspeeding up the processing of minor crimes so more resources can go intotackling more serious ones?
That is pretty much the justification for a raft of new police powers thatLabour is bringing in which will allow the police to stop and punish peopleon the spot. This will undoubtedly speed things up as it omits due legal process first. In practice – this means hitting the poor harder than the rich (the same level of fine means something very different to someone in work and who can afford the fine to what it means to someone on benefits) and inevitably it thus risks increasing racism in our society.
The link with racism is simple – the evidence shows that where the policehave discretion over how to enforce rules they are frequently enforced in aracist manner. The police have made great efforts to deal with racism and,during my five years on the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), I wasimpressed by the very clear and personal commitment of many officers of allranks to tackle racism. But it has not been banished.
As a result we still see things such as the racist outcome of stop and searchpolicies. Figures for 2003-4 show that black people were subjected to 14.7%of all police stop and searches, 8.8% of arrests and 6.7% of cautions,despite accounting for only 2.8% of the population. Asian people faredlittle better – making up only 4.7% of the population but 7.3% of all stopand searches.
Is this all explained by blacks and Asians being more suspicious orcriminal? No – on the MPA I repeatedly pressed the police to producedevidence that justified the disproportionate number of ethnic minoritiesstopped and searched. And evidence came there none. Racism, whether it isindividual or institutional, is still there.
We see it too with the police’s National DNA Database. One third of theblack and minority ethnic population of England and Wales is already on theNational DNA Database – a number far out of proportion to their share ofthe overall population.
Of course, the racists of the BNP just mutter, “oh well, blacks cause lotsof crime so it’s no wonder there are so many of them in the database”. Thisdoes not stand up to examination; what the figures show clearly are thatthe police are disproportionately arresting black and ethnic minorities.They also show that disproportionately more innocent DNA is from black andethnic minorities than from other communities – i.e. they are arresting notonly disproportionately but wrongly. For example, in London, 57% of allinnocent DNA is from black people. I have asked Sir Ian Blair, Met PoliceCommissioner, to investigate the cause of such worrying statistics and thisinvestigation is currently being undertaken.
Labour’s plans would mean that the police stop and levy on the spot crimesand cautions more often – with the only alternative for the person stoppedbeing to go to court instead, an often long-winded and expensive processthat can result in a criminal record. The pressure will be on to cop a pleaand pay up. But poorer people will suffer more (as the fineswill be harder for them to pay) and if ethnic minorities are beingdisproportionately stopped – then they will be disproportionately cautionedand fined or -even worse – taken to court – with all the knock on effectsthat has of reinforcing existing inequalities.
Things like due process, and involving lawyers, juries and judges, don’tmake the most exciting of rallying cries. But cutting them out of the legalsystem too often will mean the quality of justice, the cause of racialequality – and in the end communal harmony – may well all suffer.
Hornsey Central Hospital: meeting report
So the people did come. Having put out hundreds of postcards to ramp up public pressure – the people did come.
The Labour government policy on health means that there is only one game in town – a LIFT project, which will require winning bids and selling off land to fund it.
But it’s very risky. There are absolutely no guarantees that we won’t just see the land being sold off, the old hospital building being demolished – but then the bid for funding doesn’t win and we’re left with absolutely sweet FA.
I remain open to listening to anyone who can come up with a viable alternative, but so far there appears to really only be one game in town.
Against that background however, is the genuine commitment of the Primary Care Trust’s team to get this through, the backing and interest from the local commissioning west Haringey doctors. So on balance I would rather put pressure on this to make sure something happens than not.
So what I would like to do is get everyone in the area to support the bid (to be in by the end of September) with a letter-writing lobbying campaign to up the odds of getting the bid for funding. Am currently investigating who best to lobby.
I am also going to try and get to see the new Chief Executive of the London-wide Health Authority to argue for a guarantee that if the land is sold the money comes back to that site. This is against the policy of the Health Trust who say that it will go in a pot and is LIKELY to come back. Likely isn’t good enough for those of us who have campaigned for ever for this. So I will try and get a meeting to ask for a cast iron guarantee and if necessary will campaign for that too.
If we can get the bid and ring-fence the proceeds of any sale then perhaps we can succeed.
This is all dicey. But the fight has to be to get proper health facilities here for us, after years of promises.
Guardian Public Services Awards
Have to miss the launch of Britain after Blair as am judging the Guardian Public Service Awards. Started three years ago – these are awards for a whole range of public services. I was sent the judging long list some weeks ago and given criteria. Today it is the judging lunch where the scores we sent in from our first round of judging are haggled over between those on my panel.
We meet for drinks in the bar before moving onto the restaurant. I’m told it is THE bar, the ‘in’ bar and that if I want to hobnob with celebs like Posh – this is where to come. Hmmmmm. It’s in the Metropolitan Hotel in Old Park Lane which meant I staggered around a variety of badly signed exits at Hyde Park Corner for a while before finding he right one. Such a hostile traffic junction for human beings.
Anyway – to the point. At the lunch, each table comprised the six or so judges, a scribe and someone from the Guardian to guide us through the judging. As I am forbidden to reveal anything about the judging – I will simply relate the tittle tattle.
I was sitting next to Michael White of the Guardian on one side and Charlotte (the scribe – actually event manager from the Guardian) on the other. Michael gave me a piece of advice just after I was elected and met him at some do or other – that the less he wrote about me the better I was doing. What I took that to mean was that my priority was local activity and local papers. We had all done our judging seriously – and you could tell – as each member of the panel talked pretty fluently about what they did or did not think. Michael too – which I thought was impressive. It is a serious business.
Judging and lunch finished. Really interesting process – and very enjoyable.
Why I blog
I have written a short piece for Iain Dale’s new publication on the top Lib Dem, Tory and Labour blogs.
You can read my piece here.
I’ll also be saying a bit more on the subject at Lib Dem conference on Sunday night at the bloggers’ reception. So if you’re a Lib Dem blogger reading this – see you there!
Meanwhile it’s busy, busy – with speeches to prepare for next week on top of all the other usual work.
Lib Dem blog of the year shortlist
Have been judging the Lib Dem bloggers awards. Lots of nominations – lots of excellent sites nominated. I have been disqualified – in the sense that despite being nominated I am a judge so can’t win. They didn’t tell me that when I agreed to be one of the judges! Blogging is high profile at the moment – and Lib Dems really have been right in there at the forefront of the genre. The results will be announced at the Lib Dem Bloggers Reception to be held on Sunday at the LibDem conference.
Greig City Academy
I am against the break up of the school fraternity into trusts, foundations and academies – for very good reason of believing that the only way to bring real success to all children is for the local community school to be excellent. But we are where we are – and the reality of Greig City Academy in my constituency is that it is forging ahead to create a community school and tackling head on the challenge of creating a really good community school with what even the headmaster termed challenging children.
Mr Paul Sutton (the Head) is quite something, and he zooms around the corridors of the school in his wheelchair, having been paralysed only two years ago in a rugby accident. His speedy return and his extraordinary determination to deliver exciting, aspirational and practical futures is quite something to behold. Results are improving from the bad years of the previous school which transmuted into the Greig Academy.
The reason I believe lies in the staff. In the end, it is always the quality and determination of the human beings driving this forward that delivers results – and here from head (literally) to toe there is absolute commitment.
However, academies can pay their staff £5,000 more than other inner London state schools – so of course application is high and the motivation is high. I had about an hour with the Head and then walked around the school going into a few of the classrooms as the children were being taught.
The atmosphere was serious and studious and the teaching was really interesting. In one classroom the teacher was asking the kids a question. The boy answering used the word ‘like’ in his answer almost every two words:
Well Miss, like, it was, like, when you go like, to you know, like to a …
The teacher pulled him up on it. And I thought that was fantastic, because it is a detail – but its a detail that belies a way of thinking behind what is said. And it was done nicely and well.
So – the Head’s aspiration is for the children from the area to come to the school as it is the local school. It is the case, at present, that most of the parents from up the hill prefer to try and get their kids in elsewhere. It will take time – but the school is improving and I have no doubt that the children who go to Greig Academy are being educated – and I mean educated in the best sense of the word.
Why I blog
I blog therefore I am! I exist for great swathes of people because Iblog and I blog to exist (and keep existing) as a politician. I amtrying, in an era where so few people vote and so many people dismisspoliticians as being all the same – to demonstrate that I am me, and todo so in a medium which (sometimes!) reaches the parts conventionalpolitics often doesn’t.
My blog is a personal recording of my work in my own words: nomiddlemen, no media interpretation, just my view of issues and eventsand activities – with the ability to explain points of view at muchgreater length than you get in the nanosecond TV soundbite culture.
It enables me to connect with my constituents, the media, local partyactivists, members of the party, the wider party and my opponents (whoare some of my most loyal and avid readers) as I wish .
But to write a blog and keep it up over the weeks and years you have tolove writing. And I love writing. Politics is so busy, so out there, sofrenetic – so blogging is my space for thought and sorting out what Ithink.
In some ways it isn’t a typical blog because I don’t read that manyother blogs, and tend not to comment on them or link to them orotherwise engage in the wider blogosphere. It’s more my diary than partof a wider online debate and community – though this autumn I’ve openedit up for comments for the first time. My aspiration is that when anissue blows up locally – and I write about it – my blog will provide adebating forum for local discussion and enable me to see the range ofviews and concerns involved. Here’s hoping!
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS QUESTION ST ANN'S NHS CUTS
Cllr Wayne Hoban, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, has written to the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust (HTPCT) to seek an assurance that their recent decision to drop their plan to close the X-ray department at St. Ann’s Hospital in Tottenham has not been reversed.
Cllr Hoban, has been contacted by concerned users of the service who have expressed concern that the number of radiographers in the X-ray department has been reduced from three to one since the HTPCT’s recent decision to drop their plans to close the department. Concern has also been expressed that staff safety may have been compromised through lack of appropriate security measures following reduction of staffing in the department.
Cllr Hoban states:
“Despite the HTPCT’s recent decision to drop their plans to close the X-ray service at St Ann’s, the department is apparently being allowed to close by stealth. This is not acceptable.”
Lib Dem Health Spokesperson, Cllr Richard Wilson, adds:
“We need assurances from the Trust that all possible measures are being taken to ensure that the service is maintained to the level that existed prior to the decision to close the unit. Local residents and users who campaigned so strongly for this local service deserve nothing less.”
BACKLANDS – VICTORY FOR RESIDENTS, SAY LIB DEMS
Commenting on last night’s victory for residents in the controversial Cecile Park planning application, Lib Dem Councillor Robert Gorrie, who spoke against the proposals at the Planning Committee, comments:
“This was a victory for residents, and a victory for common sense. This was the worst kind of backland development, on a site wholly unsuitable to a development of this kind. There were serious questions over the safe access, and the impact on nearby residents. It was very sensibly refused, and the terrible procedural irregularities at the last Planning Committee meeting have now been overcome.”
Local councillor David Winskill (Crouch End) adds:
“This is the latest in a string of planning applications that for seven years have blighted the lives of residents whose homes surround the site. It is high time that a moratorium on such serial applications was declared, to allow local people to put their lives back together again.”
Lynne Featherstone 