After such an extended break from blogging, you will be deeply disappointed that I restart with something as mundane and trivial as Jeremy Clarkson. I have defended the man in the past, because I much enjoy Top Gear and consider that much of what he has been criticised for in the past had been an amusing winding-up of the po-faced of the kind I employ myself. But nasty, indeed vicious bullying of a subordinate should always be a sacking offence.
That did not ought to be the question, though. He hit someone and they had to go to hospital. Where are the police? They are incredibly fond of sweeping up scores of teenagers for thought crime, but here we have an actual violent assault that spills blood, and it seems completely out of the question the perpetrator is brought to account. Why is that? I had a personal experience a couple of years ago when I was very mildly hurt – less than young Oisin – in an assault, and the police insisted on arresting the perpetrator despite my repeated requests to them not to do so. They told me rather firmly that the idea that it is the victim who has a say in pressing charges, is a myth. Why was Clarkson not arrested?
I cannot in my mind dissociate this from the non-arrest of Jimmy Savile for his crimes, despite their being well-known and reported at the time. That seems to link in to the wider paedophilia scandal, and the question of why no action was taken even in the most blatant of cases when there was compelling evidence, such as that of the extremely nasty Greville Janner MP.
But then I think still more widely as to why, for example, Jack Straw has not been charged with the crime of misfeasance in public office after boasting of using his position to obtain “under the radar” changes in regulations to benefit commercial clients, in exchange for cash. I wonder why a large number of people did not go to jail for the HSBC tax avoidance schemes or the LIBOR rigging scandal, which involved long term dishonest manipulation by hundreds of very highly paid bankers.
At the top of the tree is of course the question of why Blair has not been charged for the crime of waging illegal war. The Chilcot Inquiry heard evidence that every single one of the FCO’s elite team of Legal Advisers believed that the invasion of Iraq was an illegal war of aggression. Yet now the media disparage as nutters those who say Blair should be charged.
Then I think of all the poor and desperate people who get jailed for stealing comparatively miniscule amounts in benefit fraud, or the boy who was jailed for stealing a bottle of water in the London riots.
The conclusion is that we do not have a system of justice in this country at all. We have a system where the wealthy and governing classes and those associated with them enjoy almost absolute impunity, broken in only the rarest of cases. At the same time those at the bottom of the pile are kicked hard to keep them there. There is no more chance of justice against those in power in the UK than there is of the killers of Nemtsov being brought to book in Russia.
But what has really scared me is this thought. This situation has been like this my entire life: and I have reached the age of 56 before I realised it. A very great many people have still not realised it at all.
What does not scare me is this. I realise that if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation on me to follow the laws of the state. In fact it would be wrong of me to do so. I must seek my ethical compass elsewhere than in the corrupt power structure which weighs so hard upon the people.
” Clarkson has already used racist remarks about Asians [e.g. slope] without much censure and racist remarks about blacks are trivialised in the MSM ”
I still think it would’ve caused more uproar if Clarkson had called the guy a lazy P*ki or a lazy n*gg*r.
The most offensive part of this whole affair to my mind has not been the BBC dragging it’s feet over what should be a simple case of summary dismissal or the inactivity of the police (I’d hate to think the BBC were doing anything to dissuade staff from making statements) but the support this moronic bully is getting. Much of it coming from people who should know better.
Kempe
“The bankers won’t be keen to set a precedent by letting Greece of the hook and maybe, just maybe, SYRIZA should’ve sounded them out before making wild promises.”
Like Habbakuk you focus only on the naivety of Syriza and completely fail to countenance questioning a system that has such undemocratic outcomes whilst claiming to be democratic.
No time for Clarkson,he’s an arrogant tosser,who plays to his audience,loosely using racist jibes.
As for Savile,and the establishment,it says it all that the Met police officers,investigating sex abuse,by Cyril Smith, were told in no uncertain terms to drop it,and hand over all their documents,on the case.
Scotland must break free from,a corrupt and debauched,Whitehall and Westminster,and their dirty little secrets.
Still no sign of the Chilcot report,the throng surrounding the GE,has,virtually removed it from the publics eyes,many within the walls Westminster will no doubt be pleased by this.
Meanwhile the so called “broad shoulders” of the UK,of which we were never done hearing about, during the Scottish referendum have become rounded and hunched,as the Treasury stays quite,to the pleas from a struggling oil industry.
It remains to be seen if Gideon (chancer of the exchequer) Osborne cuts the industry some slack,in his pending budget.
Phil; “Your constant and unrelenting attacks on anyone who dare offer the slightest criticism of Putin’s regime is what translates into “defending one murderous elite”.
Best respond to this, so not to appear as doing a “Ba’al” !
No, my pulling up & picking apart of crude demonizing & pro-war propaganda translates as being actively anti-war , not pro-Putin; is this really such a difficult concept for some people to get their heads around ?
Craig – “I realise that if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation on me to follow the laws of the state. In fact it would be wrong of me to do so. I must seek my ethical compass elsewhere than in the corrupt power structure which weighs so hard upon the people.”
Tricky territory this. There are good and bad laws, and then there is the implementation of the law. In the Clarkson and Blair and Cyril Smith cases there are good laws in place which are not being implemented because of the identity of the culprits. We need to do all we can to see the law implemented.
We cannot just give up on the law. The law may favour the rich and powerful, but it is also a protection for the weak. The law, both in its making and in its implementation, is a battleground. The system of justice in Britain may fail on occasion, and it may be failing more now than in the past, but I do not think you are correct to say that it is “completely corrupted”. I wouldn’t set my ethical compass by the law, nor obey all laws blindly just because they are the law, but I would have a presumption to obey the law unless there are reasons not to.
“No, my pulling up & picking apart of crude demonizing & pro-war propaganda translates as being actively anti-war, not pro-Putin; is this really such a difficult concept for some people to get their heads around?”
No. I come from the same anti-war background.
If I have to live with the Putinitsa tag, it is much more preferable than Obamanoid, Cameronian or Netanyahuvian.
Law is all we’ve really got: there are no guarantees, but it is the only protection the weak have against the mighty.
J
http://wingsoverscotland.com/a-question-for-the-labour-party/
Labours, Rachel Reeves, Labour, doesn’t want to be seen,as the party representing unemployed people.
The red Tories, care not for the poor or sick,nor social justice.
Roper: So now you’d give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I’d cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast– man’s laws, not God’s– and if you cut them down—and you’re just the man to do it—do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.
– Robert Bolt (“A Man For All Seasons”)
Republicofscotland 17/03/2015 6:36 pm
“Useful Work for the Unemployed” was the third pledge in the 1900 Labour Party General Election Manifesto. Yes, the Labour Party was set up to represent the interests of the unemployed, of course it bloody well was.
Kind regards,
John
Craig,
You said:-
“…and I have reached the age of 56 before I realised it. A very great many people have still not realised it at all.”
I always wanted to be lawyer – and I have been a Barrister since 1981. I realised it in my early 20s – wake up mate. But, glad that you eventually have begun to understand.
Courtenay
There is a book by Professor J.A.G. Griffiths – which from the 1970s wrote a best seller entitled “The Politics of the Judiciary”. Read it – you will understand. Still as relevant then as it is now.
The police were created to protect the state from the people. The exercise of the law is increasingly only available to the rich winding back the years of legal aid. Pregnant women now have to pay for the opportunity to launch unfair dismissal proceedings winding back the equality regulations.
The rule of law in a country where there is no functioning democracy is bound to be bent to those who wield power – and their friends.
@John S-D
1) without equal access to the law the protection it offers is diminished. With the access that the corrupt have to make and change laws protection dissappears.
2) labour were a party of the poor a long long time ago.
Chris, thanks for that.
1) I know. But: what else is there?
2) Ain’t that the truth.
Kind regards,
John
It was only a minor incident. Men fight it’s what they do. Sometimes it’s best that we let things come to blows. It clears the air. What is most encompassing, in terms of morality is our acceptance of such violence specifically in the the media and films. We shouldn’t let our guards drop but we have in in Clarksons case it’s good that he had some courage to have a go.l The most shocking thing with this is that is is in the news so much and Craig your just keeping it real when it is so not.
If you really care about violence then what a place to start.
“Law is all we’ve really got: there are no guarantees, but it is the only protection the weak have against the mighty.”
I agree. But only if the mighty are equally subject to the law. It is obvious that they are not. This enables the strong to create a society where nobody objects to seeing the weak despised, repressed and punished for their weakness.
” in Clarksons case it’s good that he had some courage to have a go. ”
I’ve read some bollocks on this blog but that about takes the biscuit.
[cm-org.uk – released from pre-mod at 21:47]
Mods
I would actually have quite a lot of say to Phil about Syriza, but since you appear to have placed me under pre-moderation I don’t think I’ll bother.
Useful Work for the Unemployed” was the third pledge in the 1900 Labour Party General Election Manifesto. Yes, the Labour Party was set up to represent the interests of the unemployed, of course it bloody well was.
_____________________________________
John Spencer-Davis
The now dead politician Tony Benn,posed 5 questions for the powerful.
1. What power do you have?
2. Where did you get it from?
3. Who do you exercise power for?
4.Who are you accountable too?
5.How can we get rid of you?
Benn finally realised that,with power came responsibility,today’s Westminster political parties,expecially the Tories and Labour,have long forgotten this.
A self- serving attitude now prevails,in the corridors of Westminster.
Shoving a scorpion meme such as ‘will it change Russia’ Boris Nemtsov into the arena, at the end of the topic to boot, does of course turn a ‘mundane and trivial’ piece into a canny post. It is the anomaly, the irregularity that determines the magnitude of yin and yang, matter and anti-matter; what will sway the causatum.
The outcome might be expected but fun nevertheless.
Brilliant!
Briar 17/03/2015 8:30 pm
“I agree. But only if the mighty are equally subject to the law. It is obvious that they are not. This enables the strong to create a society where nobody objects to seeing the weak despised, repressed and punished for their weakness.”
I do not share the Marquis de Sade’s view that law is merely a system imposed upon the weak by the strong to guarantee their position. I believe that human beings have a deep sense of justice and injustice, partially innate and partially taught, and that ultimately that is where the idea of law comes from. And that is one reason why the strong do not, in fact, have it all their own way. Palestine is now recognized as a state by the United Nations against the wishes of the most powerful nation on Earth. It might not be much, but it’s a start, is it not? And I think we are a long way from being a society where “nobody objects” to seeing the weak repressed. The fact is that quite a lot of people strongly object, and that constrains the powerful.
Craig Murray:
“I realise that if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation on me to follow the laws of the state. In fact it would be wrong of me to do so. I must seek my ethical compass elsewhere than in the corrupt power structure which weighs so hard upon the people.”
I do not believe the one follows from the other. The “Plowshares” and similar movements claim, specifically, that they are in fact following the laws of the state, and that it is the administrators of justice who are not doing so. And I think juries, at least, listen – which is why the powerful don’t like juries very much.
Kind regards,
John
“Can you imagine the furore if his alleged victim had been Jewish?”
His feet would not have touched the ground!
However I imagine in that case, even in his cups, his instinct for self preservation would have overridden the red mist.
“Law is all we’ve really got,” true. “if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation… to follow the laws of the state,” true. How to reconcile this?
Civil resistance, maybe, espoused by the only American who reminds me of Mr. Murray. Internal British law is shite, but international law enables reconstruction of a degenerate regime through public law enforcement.
Republicofscotland 17/03/2015 9:05 pm
Yes: great questions, especially 3 and 5. I’ve been reading “Free Radical” recently which is an excellent perspective on the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
My impression of Tony Benn is that he was a extreme democrat, and that this commitment became stronger the older he got. Most people seem to go the other way, and become more authoritarian as they get older.
Thanks.
Kind regards,
John
The ‘heart of the matter’ Sir Cyril and ‘maybe’ is ‘certainly’ as intention must dominate the fight back and defeat of the legal, constitutional, and humanitarian nihilism of the Bush administration” neocons and their chilling Hobbesian vision – imperial dominance, homeland police state, and the Dick Cheney & co meme of permanent “war that won’t end in our lifetimes.
Else chaos and annihilation rewind a millenium.
Not to say it has never happened before but… when fighting, biting, spitting, name calling, sometimes of a racial basis and other physical abuse occurs on a “professional” football field usually between opposing players, in full view of the paying public, television cameras, newspaper reporters and Her Majesty’s Constabulary, that the said police, there to keep the peace, do not intervene, arrest the players mid-game and put a stop to it immediately.
Instead these incidents may get referred to an old boys network professional body who will consider their own interests then may impose sanctions on the players and/or teams but generally speaking no criminal charges will be brought and no criminal penalties incurred.
There we have it in full view for everyone to admire, hypocrisy, double standards call it what you will because if members of the football paying public engage in such rowdy behaviours they are immediately detained, thrown in the back of the meat wagon and brought before the magistrates bench to be named, shamed, banned, fined or even imprisoned.
This sort of thing goes on week in, week out and is accepted as a societal norm. Obviously money pays a big part in this, as is the case in many things in British life, but also it is a regular reminder to the plebs that there is one strict rule for them and quite another and more lenient one for their betters. Know thou place ! A similar fate will await Jeremy Clarkson and that won’t involve the criminal courts and you can be sure of that!
i.ve Always disliked the arse.. BBc Bum boy..a million like him, Thats a great trend. And the False Press if the victim had been fit for themselves…
Chunky mark has a say on Clarkson…. Sorry to fluant the new Mod rules…But Chunky goes on to talk of Premature Babies …
My Daughter was taken By her Husband to Be.. to Greenock Inverclyde Royal Hospital on Friday…. in Labor..they sent her home with Paracetmol…Her partner thought ” no Way ” and took her to Paisley, Paisley Rushed her to Glasgow with Blue lights,….The Baby was 2lb 6oz… Then 5am call next day to transfer to York Hill…Opp on Stomach tear… all seems ok for noo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahw4zNIgWcU
I’m going to positive about the law.
The reason I am positive is because of another event this week… the real cause of the Hillsborough disaster has been exposed, admitted guilt, and justice will be served.
It has taken 26 years, and some very determined people, but the truth has come out. As a chief of police, politicians, and the media were all involved in feeding a false narrative after the event, it is incredible that the truth has come out.
For me, it was a bit of Desmond Tutu moment when I heard it broadcast on BBC radio that a barrister had asked the defendant if his rapid promotion had been anything to do with his membership of the freemasons.
So Let’s be positive!
Clarkson did Top Gear without going over the top for many years, and his more outlandish approach seems to have coincided with the entry of one of his admirers into 10 DS. In any other society within Western Europe, at any other time since ww2, someone talking of executing strikers in front of their families (even in jest) would have been hauled over the coal for “off the scale” hatred preaching. Clarkson had already become untouchable or he never would have said that. Who are these million signatures anyway? I would how many are from a certain country outside the UK where a vociferous minority love a bit of rough-and-tumble (remember their reaction to John Prescott during the 2001 election campaign).
More good news… Grant Shapps exposed, child abuse corruption coming out into the open, Miliband holding his own, Blair could be ousted as Middle East envoy. And the BBC haven’t yet reinstated Clarkson!