Vote for none of the above

It's local election day today. What to do.?. I can never vote Labour again after the lies about the war and increasingly because of their neo fascist tendencies on crime and civil liberties, as well as what they have done to public services with more privatisation and managerialist target cultures etc..  Even the Tories seem more attractive with their opposition to ID cards etc.. they are positively libertarian..  But here in Preston they have control of the Council, with Lib Dem support and have just slashed spending on the voluntary sector including turning down applications for money to support my own post at The Salvation Army.

 

So I'm just off to vote now and probably will end up writing in "none of the above".

 

 

Still at least I don't have a vote in the london Mayoral race where another one I could not vote for is actually an old friend and colleague Alan Craig.  http://www.thechristianchoice.org/

 

He presents himself as "THE Christian Choice".. and among his policies is opposition to building a mosque, which brings joy to the heart of fascists and white racists.  Actually some of the other policy ideas are not bad... and it would be good to have some more Christian influence and thinking in politics.  But not at that price, and not on the assumption backed by too many church leaders that there is only one Christian viewpoint on all these issues.

 

 

 

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Big Brother and the CCTV camera next door

 

Here are a few more thoughts and questions about cameras in Broadgate and elsewhere.

 

I grew up before 1984, and read Orwell's book at school. Not surprisingly I hate the idea of Big Brother watching you, (or for that matter of watching Big Brother on TV!). I leved through 1984 and if you remember that was the year of the miners' strike when the forces of the state brutally crushed the communities that were fighting for their livelihoods. So from a personal point of view I'm very hostile to the idea of the police or government watching you and me all the time and the fact that we are the most observed society in the world. I just don't trust that those in control of the cameras will only use them to protect the public from crime and terrorism. And as far as I'm concerned the same goes for fingerprinting, DNA registers and ID cards. 

 

In particular I hate the fact that there is a CCTV camera on my next door neighbour's house watching me every time I take the dog across the road to do his business. No wonder I always carry a pooper scooper and use it when necessary. I've actually asked politely three times now to have this camera removed, but to no effect, as neither the police, nor BRAG nor my neighbour seems to be taking responsibility for it. I understand I have a right to see all the pictures that have been taken of me, and I wonder what would happen if I made a serious formal request.

 

I can understand why in some circumstances such as in shops, or stations or public buildings people think security cameras are necessary to help fight crime. But I'm not really convinced they are much help in normal residential streets. People say the presence of cameras deters crime, people wont risk doing something naughty if they are going to be caught. The first flaw in this is that it will only work if there is a really big obvious notice that "You are being watched on camera". As far as BRAG's cameras are concerned they are not obvious at all and may in fact be illegal without clear signage.

 

The second flaw is that if criminals know they are there it is still easy enough to move down the street to do their evil work. Or simply to wear a balaclava or a hoodie pulled up. Chances are that on a dark night the offender is not going to be recognised. Furthermore as most offences seem to involve drink, drugs or a raging temper the rational fear of being caught does not work too well for most cases. All we can hope for is to catch and convict them afterwards.

 

The final and worse flaw is that if we feel we need cameras in quiet residential streets this will simply raise everyone's fear of crime beyond sensible caution to panic levels. As a result even more people don't go out on the streets after dark. One result of this is that with no one around, empty streets more easily become the territory of anti-social elements who can more easily take control of a turf and really make it unsafe for ordinary folk young and old alike. It would be far better if the whole community spent more time hanging around on street corners passing the time of day.

 

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Church and CCTV : Letter to Lancashire evening post...

I find it rather sad that a church in Fulwood (as reported in LEP 5^th Feb) is plagued by young people hanging around its premises, and that it has joined some of the residents in attempting to control, or move on the problem by installing CCTV cameras. I fear this will not be very effective, will only alienate the youngsters further, and anger many other young people who are already fed up with being lumped together and blamed for most of society's ills.

 

I speak as a 56 year old grumpy old man, grumpy because most of my generation wish the police would arrest, inflict physical punishment and banish all teenagers from our streets and public places. It is particularly sad when the church shows any sign of joining this prejudiced outcry. In the good old days when I was a teenager many churches, and other community organisations came up with a better solution, providing constructive leisure activities, sports and youth clubs and building relationships with young people, even with the "feral" teddy boys, mods and rockers who then roamed the streets of many cities.

 

Thankfully there are still a few churches, and other faith based and community organisations that still try to do the same, with committed volunteers and parents who give hours of their time to work with kids. Sadly it is far more difficult these days to do so, given the general hostility to the young, the shortage of volunteers, the highly regulated regimes youth services operate under, the pressure to meet educational targets and above all the lack of serious government funding to support general purpose youth work.

 

It is my belief that vast investment in youth work in the community would do far more to reduce crime and anti social behaviour than the repressive community policing and surveillance that is the current fashion. Recognising the positive contribution of the young to our society is long overdue.

 

 One way some of us are doing this is to serve our own ASBOs on suitable young people. These are certificates stating that the young person in question is Alright, Sensational, Beautiful and Original and is making a positive impact for good in the community. I would invite all the churches in Lancashire to join this movement. Certificates can be downloaded from www. Fyt.org.uk

 

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