Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Sheilbh]

Looks like the Northern Ireland deal won't happen due to opposition from DUP and some Tories. Same procedure as every year... 

Welcome to Northern Irish politics.

It looks like (again) Number 10 were over their skis in briefing that it would be done this weekend. They think they've got a deal that meets the DUP's 7 tests, but they need to convince the DUP of that.

The big story this weekend has been the reports that they were trying to get the King involved/politicise him - which I'm not sure of based on the reporting. But the story's taken on a life of its own. From what I've read they were planning to announce the deal (which they'd call the "Windsor Agreement") and at the same time VDL was going to have a visit with the King. At some point either Number 10 or the Palace got cold feet that this was inappropriate.

But it's still ongoing - Sunak's got new meetings with the DUP and the EU. It sounds to me very much like the substance of the deal is there and the issue is convincing the DUP that it meets their tests - and a dose of constructive ambiguity may help there.

I still think a deal will be done probably. As ever the key is convincing the DUP/unionists but everything I've seen so far looks more like the normal process of convincing one of the sides in Northern Ireland to reach a compromise (which will require a constructive ambiguity) than a fundamental breakdown.

Separately I've always wondered if there are any other examples like that sketch which are known/watched in other countries but no-one has heard of in the country of origin?

Or it's the Johnson clique trying to use it as a route back into power?

Johnson is definitely doing that - but I don't think the Tory party bit is the problem. It's the DUP/unionists.

Things probably aren't helped by the New IRA shooting of police officer in Omagh. That story's particularly grim because he was apparently shot while packing away balls after coaching a youth football team - and it happened in front of some of the kids (I've seen reporting on the BBC that "children ran in terror" around the sports complex which is horrendous). He had been involved in the murder of Lyra McKee by the New IRA so it may have been a revenge hit. Obviously all parties have condemned it and held meetings with the PSNI - and dissident Republicans do not have political representation. I suppose in a perverse way it might focus minds on the need to get back to Stormont/keep the peace.

[Sheilbh]

Police not fit for purpose story 379. They really are the last unreformed public sector body left and need radical changes

Revealed: one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced a criminal charge last year
Figure has surged over the past 10 years with pressure growing for officers to be sacked on the spot
Andrew Kersley and Mark Townsend
Sat 25 Feb 2023 18.50 GMT
Last modified on Sat 25 Feb 2023 19.27 GMT

Shocking figures obtained by the Observer show roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year alone.

An Observerinvestigation has found that the Police Federation, the staff association for police officers, received 1,387 claims for legal support from members facing criminal charges in 2022.

The data also suggested that the number of officers facing criminal charges has skyrocketed by 590% since 2012. That year, just 235 claims were made for Police Federation legal support by its members.

The Police Federation of England and Wales represents around 140,000 former and serving police officers and spends millions of pounds a year in legal fees, which help defend those accused of severe misconduct or even criminality. The organisation is a statutory staff association, meaning all police officers become members by default when they join any force in England and Wales.

One campaign group said the federation was always ready to "defend the indefensible" and was a "major obstacle" to dealing with racism and misogyny in the police.

Last week, it was revealed that a former federation chairman, John Apter, would not face prosecution over two sexual assault allegations made against him. Apter was suspended by the Police Federation and by Hampshire Constabulary in December 2021.

The kind of criminal charges faced by police officers can range from misconduct in a public office and sending grossly offensive messages on a public network to more serious offences including assault, sexual offences and even murder.

The new data comes amid a growing number of cases of serious criminality by officers. Earlier this month, former Met officer David Carrick was jailed for life after he raped, assaulted and inflicted "irretrievable destruction" on at least 12 women.

In 2021, another serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, used his police ID and handcuffs to kidnap, rape and murder 33-year-old Sarah Everard. This month, it was revealed that the police missed clear chances to identify Couzens as a potential sex offender and a danger to women in the days, months and even years leading up to Everard's murder.Last month, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said it was "crazy" that he was unable as commissioner to sack "toxic" officers suspected of serious crimes after it was revealed 150 officers were under investigation for sexual misconduct or racism.

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has now written to the home secretary asking her to urgently push through new laws allowing police chiefs to sack rogue officers on the spot. Although the Home Office is currently reviewing policing's dismissal processes following the failure to remove Carrick as a serving officer, Khan is frustrated that existing laws mean that the Met is still being forced to employ officers who have committed serious offences.

Last week, it was revealed that a Met officer caught publicly masturbating twice on a train was still serving after the force could only issue him another written warning.

The Met admitted last month it is investigating 1,000 sexual and domestic abuse claims involving about 800 of its officers. Khan wrote to Suella Braverman on Friday, stating "it is incomprehensible to the public that under current regulations the Met can be required to reinstate serving officers convicted of a criminal offence". A Home Office source said Khan's intervention was an attempt to "cover up for years of failure in which as commissioner responsible for the Met police he has done very little". A review of the police's disciplinary system has months left to run, but Khan warns "profound changes to police vetting, conduct and misconduct processes are urgently needed".Khan, responsible for setting the strategic direction and budget of the Met, writes: "This transformation must be supported by radical reform of the legislative framework to empower police chiefs and give them the tools they need to take fair and effective executive action to remove anyone falling short of the high standards expected by the police, community and the public."

The Observer investigation also found a sharp rise in the number of misconduct and gross misconduct claims recorded by the Police Federation. The net total related to the two shot up from 418 in 2018 to 598 last year, a 43% rise.

Misconduct charges are less serious and relate to the breaking of workplace rules, while gross misconduct relates to more serious acts, including criminal actions, that could warrant immediate dismissal.

The two officers who shared photos of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman and described the pair as "dead birds" both faced gross misconduct charges, before eventually being jailed for misconduct in a public office.

The data in question, disclosed in a Freedom of Information request, relates to claims made to the Police Federation for support by members. The Observer understands one claim can relate to a person facing multiple criminal charges at once.

While members could, in theory, make multiple requests for support in the same year, the Police Federation did not disclose if or how often this was the case.

The group refused to comment on any of the Observer's other findings, or disclose what, if any, types of more serious criminal charges did not receive legal support from the organisation.

The figures are likely to be an underestimate given the number of police officers who may never face official criminal charges or who face official charges but don't seek help from the Police Federation.

A spokesperson for police reform campaigners Netpol said: "For as long as we can remember, the Police Federation has portrayed its members as victims, quickly dismissing most complaints as frivolous and condemning critics of police misconduct. On the rare occasions when officers are sacked or, like Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, are convicted of the most abhorrent crimes, the Federation is quick to distance itself from these 'bad apples', despite the growing evidence of a flourishing and largely unchallenged police culture of racism and misogyny.

"Senior officers insist they intend to restore the damage to public confidence created by a wave of negative stories. On the face of it, the Federation's willingness to continue to provide material support to an increasing number of officers facing criminal charges, many for sexual offences, makes it a major obstacle to ever achieving this. Yet more than any other staff organisation, it is genuinely representative of the current state of policing in Britain: unable to comprehend why change is needed and, without enormous outside pressure, always ready to defend the indefensible." A spokesperson for fellow police reform campaign group StopWatch added: "We would not be surprised if the figures are an underestimate, the Federation rarely hold a mirror to themselves for accountability's sake.

[Admiral Yi]

"Facing criminal charges" means they have been charged or someone has filed a complaint?

[Sheilbh]

They've been charged.

[Josquius]

That's what you get for mainly recruiting from people whose best school subject was PE.

[Admiral Yi]

That's what you get for mainly recruiting from people whose best school subject was PE.

I suspect it's more a case of which people are applying rather than any conspiratorial targeted recruiting.

The police need fit, larger, brave people.  It's no surprise that's going to skew toxic.  So the trick is to find and entice fit, larger, brave, considerate and compassionate people.  I have no idea how one does that.

[Sheilbh]

I'm not sure it's recruitment necessarily - although there are plans to require police to have degrees

I think it's a problem of culture within the police that I think has grown in recent years (see the shift since 2012) - and they are an unreformed public service. They are not accountable enough for delivery or the standards that the public expect. I know May's Police and Crime Commissioners were supposed to help with that but I think that's been a failure.

[Josquius]

I never said there was a conspiracy.

I was mostly joking. Though I do recall when I was in school either the police or something sports related were the targets of those doing PE (and caring rather than just picking it as they had to pick something and leaving school at 16).

Though of those I know they were of the decent sporty variety. I do hope with the detoxification of football at the lowest levels and increased awareness of opportunities in the world these days more of these people are being created.

Though something the police could do is fight against that stereotype to say even to those who aren't that sporty that there's plenty more to police work than just running all the time. It might well have been something to moderately tempt me if I knew then what I do now.

Requiring degrees to be in the police seems a bit much but certainly I can see a path for heavier targeting and special fast track setups for recruiting graduates (something in the back of my head says this might exist?)

I was reading a bit the other day about how we need more happy valley style cops, engaged with the local community and working on prevention. I wonder whether this is a big part of the problems today.
Police are abstract outside services called in when the scum blow up. Its no surprise they get bored when there's not much action and don't really empathise with the public.

[Sheilbh]

I was reading a bit the other day about how we need more happy valley style cops, engaged with the local community and working on prevention. I wonder whether this is a big part of the problems today.
Police are abstract outside services called in when the scum blow up. Its no surprise they get bored when there's not much action and don't really empathise with the public.

I think austerity is part of the story. Both the derision of and then cuts to Police Community Support Officers which I think cut a link in community policing and then the cuts to admin support staff (so politicians could say the "frontline" was protected) which just meant more police time was being spent in stations.

They've also shut down police stations all over in favour of bigger, more centralised and cheaper hubs.

And I think that was then backed up operationally with - especially in London but, because of the role they play, nationally - the Met under Cressida Dicks. Her predecessors strategy was all around "total policing" which included body cams, being out on the streets more, also "total support for victims" and "total technology (etc ) - which was replaced with Dicks' vision that emphasise more protection. Police sitting in vans or based in large stations, driving round communities, she even looked at more circumstances where British cops would carry weapons - all of which I think are bad ideas.

Also I know I bang on about it but I think the most senior police officer in the country being a woman who was gold commander when a man was unlawfully shot and who then tried to cover it up sends out an awful message on culture and what will get rewarded/promoted in the police force. It said, I think, to police everywhere: act with impunity, cover it up and we've got your back.

[Tonitrus]

They've also shut down police stations all over in favour of bigger, more centralised and cheaper hubs.

I think that is one of the bigger failings/false economies in policing.  For large/dense urban areas, I think the 'ol Japanese "police box" strategy is far superior to what we do in the Colonies.

[Josquius]

Google is failing me but I recall reading an article not too long ago of Japan having the opposite problem of too many police and the whole thing being a mess of pork politics. Something mad like 1 in 100 people being employed by the police.

I'm not sure on police boxes being the approach but certainly bringing back more local stations would be welcome.
I've mentioned before how the area where my parents live, a small town with a bunch of scattered villages and two other towns several miles away, 50k people total or there abouts... Has 1 cop on duty at a time. It takes them forever to respond to something. Usually try to just deal with issues over the phone.

[HVC]

Funny British factoid of the day

[garbon]

Funny British factoid of the day

Facfoid as in alternative facts?

[HVC]

Funny British factoid of the day

Facfoid as in alternative facts?

Confirmed through Google... although that might not mean much hahah. The youtube host does a bunch of English historical clips. That's her gig.

[garbon]

Funny British factoid of the day

Facfoid as in alternative facts?

Confirmed through Google... although that might not mean much hahah. The youtube host does a bunch of English historical clips. That's her gig.

Wikipedia says it is unlikely and lists sources as to why.