An Abuse Alert System For Hospitals

This system, which is reported on today is to be welcomed.

But why is it just to flag up child abuse?

I remember a notorious case in North Essex in the 1980s, where the wife was always being beaten up by her husband. He used to take her to different A & E units, to minimise the chance of the truth being discovered.

In the end, she was found murdered.

The Dead Can’t Enter A Plea Of Not Guilty

The media has already found Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smith guilty, but under British law and in fact in a lot of countries, defendants are not guilty until proven to be guilty. Daniel Finkelstein had a long and measured opinion about this in The Times yesterday. He finishes with a plea that everybody has a fair trial and as he says, not being taken to court in their coffin.

But we all tend to be hard on the dead and their perceived crimes.

In a post yesterday, I was being very hard on the man, who decided to electrify the trains south from London using a third rail. I know design faults are not as serious as child abuse, but I’m not alone in condemning the dead.

The Telegraph Has A Go At A UKIP Candidate

Winston McKenzie, a UKIP candidate in the Croydon North by-election is reported to have said, that adoption by same sex couples is child abuse. The report is not in a gay publication, but here in Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph.

Gangs And Young Girls

I was born in 1947, and at my primary school in North London, there were girls who hung around with Teddy Boys. Just look at John Borman’s film, Hope and Glory, which is a true reflection of children’s behaviour during the Second World War.

Sue The Twits

It is reported on the front page of The Times, that Lord McAlpine is going to sue those who might have defamed him on Twitter. It’s also here in the Telegraph.

If I were him, I’d find the most well-known twit on the list with lots of money and sue just them. It wouldn’t cost me a fortune, but the returns could be high.

Simon Jenkins In The Guardian On Jimmy Savile

I don’t seem to be the only person, who thinks that the reaction to Jimmy Savile and his undoubted crimes is a bit over the top. Read this by Simon Jenkins in that sensationalist tabloid, the Guardian. Here’s the last paragraph.

We now have a new form of accountability, to an “inquiriat”, a cackle of inquisitors and lawyers jumping to the bidding of public opinion, flapping round every executive’s head and piling accusation on every error. This can only lead to ever more defensive behaviour in every sphere of public life. It is the paranoia of the modern state. Every document is “open”, every conversation “on the record” and your friend today is tomorrow the witness against you.

Very soon, no-one will do anything because of fear!

In some ways the forces that protected Jimmy Savile are not unlike those that protected the abusers in some of the worst child and other abuse cases of recent years.

More Savile and Fallout On The Phone-In

I’m getting sick to death with the problems of an eccentric and the troubles he left behind.

Usually, I listen to the phone in on Radio 5.  But today, I’ll do my shopping early and have a coffee.

On another subject, my father was abused by the Police in the Battle of Cable Street.  Who do I complain to?

Some things are better forgotten.  We should pass on after making absolutely sure they won’t happen again!

Exploitation of White Girls “is Asian problem”

The headline of this report comes from a piece from the front page of The Times and is based on quotes from Nazir Afzal, who is the Chief Crown Prosecutor in North West England.

He also says he will not turn a blind eye to crimes in any community.

I totally agree with that last statement and The Times and their reporter Andrew Norfolk is to be congratulated on their coverage of the subject. I suspect that the paper doesn’t go down too well in Pakistani communities.

Government To Ban Forced Marriages

Both The Times and The Guardian are saying that the Government is to ban forced marriage. The report in the latter is here. This is the first paragraph.

PM to announce whether forcing someone to marry should be outlawed amid speculation it could carry jail term.

We should have had this law in place several years ago.

Some might thing that The Times is particularly anti-Muslim today, as in addition, it has a leader very critical of Rotherham Council about covering up a report about the grooming of young girls by men of Pakistani origin and a report about Muslim thuggery in Whitemoor Prison.

I don’t.

All of these abuses must be removed from this country and I support those devout Muslims, who are working to that end.

Baroness Warsi Puts the Boot In!

Baroness Warsi is reported on the BBC as condemning in the strongest terms the child abuse of white girls by a minority of Pakistani men. I am very much behind her views, as child abuse is child abuse no matter who does it. It can never be excused under any circumstances.

I would however question the views of some that should know better, who have done little to follow up complaints or condemn the proven abuse.

Let’s hope too, that Baroness  Warsi and others, like Jack Straw and Trevor Phillips,  keep the pressure up, as only by a concerted and forceful campaign will we stamp this vile practice out for good.