Woman winner!

Fantastic! A victory for independence, impartiality and ability to represent the whole community.

Newly elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset Sue Mountstevens brings a perspective and approach to the role that we really need. Second time today I've voted for an election winner!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-20353786

Candid Commissioner

Given that the Electoral Commission has said: “The swearing of an oath will be an important symbol of impartiality, emphasising both the significance of this new role in local communities and that PCCs are there to serve the people, not a political party or any one section of their electorate.” can there be anyone to vote for as Police Commissioner for Avon and Somerset than a suitable independent?

Sue Mountstevens (pictured) looks like she will be the only independent standing in November's Police and Crime Commissioner election (a situation not helped one bit by the high cost - the deposit alone being £5000). She is well qualified to do the job: member of the current police authority; Bristol magistrate for 15 years; vice-chairwoman of the Independent Monitoring Board at Bristol prison. For me she says all the right things on her website too: http://suemountstevens.co.uk/ . Her Twitter site is here: https://twitter.com/sumountstevens. 

Who should I cast my second preference vote for though?

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Police-Commissioner-elections-need-know/story-17093457-detail/story.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19495673

Car crap

More than 15,000 motorists a year are caught jumping red lights in Bristol, it has been revealed.

The Avon and Somerset Safety Camera Partnership says a total of 15,500 drivers and motorcyclists were caught on camera going through red traffic lights last year...(more here).

No surprise here. In fact the figure is very likely to be much higher than 15,500 a year - this is only those drivers that have been seen and successfully photographed. Anyone who drives around Bristol a bit, as I do, knows that you dont have to be out on the road for long on any one day before you see all sorts of driving offences and breaches of the Highway Code: overtaking on the inside, weaving from lane to lane, through red lights, driving very close behind you, sudden and sharp braking, sudden acceleration, through zebra crossings when people are waiting to cross or are still on the crossing, generally not allowing space and time to pedestrians and bikes, irresponsible parking eg on double yellow lines and on corners, general speeding -including from one set of red lights to another...Many of these people must have more money than sense because they are increasing their chances of a very costly - and more serious - accident and wasting away their fuel with grossly inefficient driving - some of these may be the first to moan about fuel prices too!   

Cameron's Christianity Codswallop

David Cameron's pronouncements yesterday on Christianity are confused and send out mixed messages. He trumpets that we are a Christian country, when for many practical purposes we are not (see here) - Cameron himself said he was only a vaguely practicing Christian and over half the country said they were non-religious in the latest social attitudes survey! He calls for the revival of traditional Christian values but says he is full of doubts on major theological issues (see here). He's hardly setting a Christian standard is he, so what is he playing at?

His stated idea is that the return of Christian values would help us fight our 'moral collapse'. He's wrong to think that Christianity and the Bible or any other religion and its texts are the basis of our morality. Human beings developed a sense of what is right and wrong long before any formal relgions existed and very likely for evolutionary reasons.

Instead of pronouncing on Christianity his focus should be on effective, practical action to tackle the poor moral standards so evident in politics, policing, banking and financial services, in the media, and in the Christian Church itself. I'm fed up with expenses scandals, police corruption, greedy bankers and business-people, 'mafia-like' newspaper organisations, sexism, homophobia, child abuse scandals...and the advocacy of materialism we've long had from all political colours.

He should be looking at the privileged, influential position of Christianity in the UK and planning to make us a better secular society. He should think through whether the Bible is actually a consistent guide to anything at all. Richard Dawkins says in his book The God Delusion that '...the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unkown to each other, spanning nine centuries...unfortunately it is this same weird volume that religious zealots hold up to us as the inerrant source of our morals and rules for living.'

David Cameron should recognise that actually his doubt is a good thing. Doubt means you are thinking. It means you are asking questions, not accepting the status quo - seeking change for the better. Doubt helps us break away from unjustifiable traditions. With no evidence for the existence of God - quite the contrary in fact - and no convincing arguments either, why believe? If there is a God why is there so much undeserved suffering in the world eg those homeless, cold, hungry, thirsty, lonely, subject to war, terrorism and crime, in hospital...? As Woody Allen said God 'is an underachiever' !

The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible that prompted David Cameron's comments has its significance of course. This book is a major, if not the major work of English literature. Atheist Richard Dawkins sums this up nicely in The God Delusion, '...the main reason the English Bible needs to be part of our education is that it is a major source book for literary culture. The same applies to the legends of the Greek and Roman gods and we learn about them without being asked to believe in them.'.

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16231223

*http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/952

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16224394

*http://www.bristol247.com/2011/12/12/your-say-on-what-grounds-can-we-claim-to-be-a-christian-country-68525/

Hackgate

It appears in our current system that the purpose of holding positions of power and responsibility in banking, the media, police and politics is to 'know little/nothing' and to resign. Useless, corrupt...

Phone hacking: MPs to quiz Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks [and Former Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and many others!!]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14195259

Cuts threat to public order, public safety, public security

Spending cuts on this scale, at this pace, and of this nature, threaten many aspects of public life - not least public order, safety and security...

BBC News - Spending Review: Police 'not ready for budget cuts'

A police watchdog says it has "real concern" whether police authorities can manage cuts in the Spending Review.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said less than one in five of the bodies it examined were ready to help forces cut effectively.
The Home Office will cut police funding by 20% over four years, with chief constables warning of job losses...

Action on alcohol

Lets face it – alcohol is extremely popular with the vast majority of people but it’s a drug, albeit legal and non-prescription, which affects every organ in the human body and changes behaviour to threaten life and health. Alcohol has all the risks of addiction and illness of illegal drugs and indeed some prescription drugs. The huge and growing alcohol problem has been well illustrated by recent widespread news reports eg ‘Bristol’s got a drink problem’ front page headline and ‘Alcohol’s cheap - and now we’re all paying the price’ (Post, 18 January).

It may not be popular with some, perhaps many, but its right that we take action on alcohol to prevent abuse and promote responsibility. I agree with calls to crackdown on the sale of cheap alcohol, with better controls and a minimum price per unit of alcohol, though our Government has been criticised for being too close to the drinks industry and not listening enough to advice from Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer. We should really bring in a complete ban on the promotion of alcohol products, including sponsorship, direct or indirect advertising and product placement on remuneration or reward.

The tax levied on alcohol products should be in proportion to the amount of alcohol in the finished product. The effect of alcohol tax levels on alcohol consumption should be reviewed continually and should inform decisions on increasing taxation.

The net profits of companies producing alcohol for consumption, and the dividends paid to shareholders of these companies should attract a significantly higher rate of taxation than now.

The additional money from higher alcohol taxation should be used to fund expanded health and education programs which should be targeted at those at highest risk of harming themselves and others and at changing drinking culture. Additional funds for policing in key problem areas could also be made available. Penalties for drunk and disorderly behaviour and driving whilst under the influence of alcohol should be increased and the permitted alcohol to blood ratio of drivers should be reduced.

Serving alcohol in smaller measures should be on offer. Suppliers should be required to provide clearer and accurate information about the unit alcohol content. Both these and other measures would help to facilitate more responsible drinking of alcohol.

Glenn Vowles, Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol East

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Further information on alcohol and health:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Healthimprovement/Alcoholmisuse/index.htm

Citizen Focussed Policing

I recommend reading this blog entry from Chief Inspector Andy Bennett about Citizen Focussed Policing:

http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/newsroom/blog/Display.aspx?bid=42

He defines it so:

Citizen Focus is: ‘A way of working in which an in-depth understanding of the needs and expectations of individuals and local communities is routinely reflected in the decision making, service delivery and practice.’

This quote equally applies to all public services including our local council, local education and NHS.

In policing terms what does it really mean?

It is a style of policing whereby there is active collaboration between the police, our partners and the public when delivering our service. We have to move away from always ‘doing policing to people’ where there is little or no choice and create an environment where local communities have some genuine opportunities to shape and contribute towards local policing.

This is more like the kind of approach we need. I like the sound of it and will watch with interest to see what happens with regard to putting it into practice.