Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has written in the Telegraph this morning:

I don't pay for the Telegraph and have no desire to do so, and I do rather resent ministers making announcements behind paywalls. It seems to me to be the opposite of what accountability should be about. But let me assume that she has summarised her arguments correctly in her tweet. I gather from other media comments that this is pretty much the case.
Of course, it was a disgrace that the police were attacked.
It will be appropriate to impose significant penalties on those who did that.
And it is wholly appropriate that respect be restored for each other. That is true for people of whatever origin, ethnicity, creed, orientation and gender they might be. I should, however, add that this is also true for all children, however many siblings they might have, if it so happens that their parents might need state social security support, but Cooper does not seem to want to go that far. Her beliefs appear to be entirely conditional on Rachel Reeves' balancing of her books.
And yes, we should respect law and order. But Labour's failure to announce it will get rid of bad Tory laws, like many on legitimate protesting, undermines that commitment on its part.
That commitment from Labour is also undermined by the absence of any comment from it on the denial of the right to a fair trial for climate protestors who have been refused the right to explain their actions in court by totally based judges who are bringing their political prejudices into the legal system.
And it is also undermined by Labour being apparently unable to decide that an Israeli government genocide in Gaza is a breach of international law.
So, of course, I agree with Yvette Cooper. I just wish she would act in accordance with her own demands.
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This is the elephant in the room for me.
I’m all for sorting out Right wing extremism and even that of the Left.
But what has gone on after Southport makes the climate change protesters and their disgusting treatment come sharply into focus and it is not justified in my view.
You are right – there are too many inconsistencies which Labour must address.
It is possible to break the Telegraph paywall if you use your phone. Go to the article then immediately turn off your internet connection. Takes a bit of practice
That’s desperate!
That’s made me smile, if you can get one over whichever money grubbing Pillock owns the DT, why not?
But seriously, why bother? The Telegraph has become an increasingly ridiculous and hysterical publication for ages now, with thinly disguised right wing propaganda disguised as news.
“Know thy enemy” Sun Tzu.
I know a Peter Harris who would say just that!
“Go to the article then immediately turn off your internet connection. Takes a bit of practice.”
Is the Torygraph worth all that effort?
Is Yvette Cooper worth all that effort?
Most local library services have group subscriptions to the Press Reader app. A (free) online membership of your local library provides access to Press Reader. And the Daily Telegraph is freely available via this route.
I had not thought of that…..
The way Labour are operating makes it appear that they are totally surprised to be in Government. Apparently, instead of spending the last fourteen years honing their policies to remove all inconsistencies, they have been sitting on their hands and planning nothing. It’s hard to believe, but that is what the evidence increasingly suggests.
I think that’s partly the effect of focus group decision making. Wait and see which way the wind is blowing when an election is looming. It’s cowardly politics, and one of the reasons people are fed up with Labour.
I agree. Another side to this is that Law & Order plays very well with the asset rich, those who own property, feel they are entitled to increase it and use it as they please regardless of any social consequences for those who are not rich in assets. And therefore fear for its safety should the underclass get stroppy. And they are now LINO’s constituency and patrons, while the underclass must look out for themselves.
Yvette Cooper, long derided by the disabled community as the Imaginary Wheelchair Woman. Here’s why, and I will stress IMV it’s very worthwhile reading for the uninitiated as it serves to illustrate the unbridled ferocity, the sheer visceral hatred displayed by the political classes against society’s most vulnerable
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/even-harsher-new-esa-medical-approved
Shocking – how are people with stumps for arms supposed to be able to get to work in the first place? How are they supposed to attend to their natural bodily functions while at work? Is someone going to be employed specifically to wipe their backsides, for example? No word from Cooper on that, I notice. I note too Google haven’t scrubbed this page from their servers yet which suggests people remain actively looking for it to this day. Given the contents, I’m not surprised.
I hate the callousness of these things
Respect for the police.
Is this the same police that gratuitously closed the M25 because of some people attached to gantries?
Is this the same police that have, time afte time, been accused in plenty of reports of racism and misogny?
Is this the same police that are rarely if ever prosecuted & usually get early retirement when they commit crimes?
Is this the same police that spy on citizens & have done for decades with no consequences (whitewash pubic inquiry happening now)?
Is this the same police that regard us citizens as… the enemy & are weaponising against citizens the quasi-fascist laws introduced by the Tories?
Those police?
Respect is earned, the police have been destroying it for decades.
As the brother of two ex coppers and an acquaintance of a few others, they are fully aware of the political policing that has always been a major part of UK, particularly in the Met, and avoided it. One of my acquaintances was a very senior officer who zealously weeded out racist and homophobic officers as part of his job, and received a lot of insults as a result. Since May slung out the 30 year officers in 2011 (including my youngest brother), along with most backroom staff the macho culture and the weeding out of thugs has not improved but there has been some effect of changing attitudes in the younger end of the service, e.g. less homophobia. We do rely on a very overstretched and often isolated force to do the proper bit of their job, but Cameron onwards the relentless cuts have damaged policing.
One example: a gym buddy and neighbour was a sergeant in charge of a unit for arresting domestic violence offenders. She had a staff of 15 in 2010. By the time she quit to keep her sanity in 2019 she had 3 staff, AND they had been given responsibility for monitoring ALL sex offenders in an urban sector of Birmingham. Serious domestic violence incidents could not be attended.
Political policing come from the top; some coppers are thugs, racist, homophobes; most coppers are honestly doing an increasingly impossible job.
Thanks
People who are charged with criminal offences have been denied the right to self-defence in our courts, when judges have prevented climate change activists from explaining why they have resorted to disruptive actions. This is a profoundly dangerous move, which has gone pretty much unremarked. Having been a JP for some years, and sat in judgement in criminal cases, I find it extraordinary that this has come about.
Me, too
Sorry to be pedantic, but your penultimate paragraph –“Labour [is] apparently unable to decide that an Israeli government genocide in Gaza is not a breach of international law” — seems to say the opposite of what you meant.
Apologies
My defence is I was pretty ill soon after writing that
It has not been a pleasant morning
Commiserations
Thanks
Meanwhile, BBC Radio Scotland news; on a day that Ukraine extends its incursion into Kursk (the site of the most decisive land battle of WWII), and the BBC’s woes over Edwards and the Dance programme spiral on; BBC Radio Scotland News mentions neither on its headlines, and leads with stories on pot-holes and bins.
Small town newspaper stuff….
and it sells!!!!
Just like small time petty stuff on the Sussexes. It sells!!!!!
On the topic of the Telegraph paywall, I wouldn’t give them a penny, but almost every article from their site (and FT, Bloomberg, Economist, etc) is listed pretty quickly at the open access site archive.ph.
So to find the Cooper article, simply visit https://archive.ph/zYTT7