Do you know there will be elections for Commissioners to oversee policing across England? If you know, please tell someone else.
A low vote will mean that Commissioners will have no mandate or legitimacy. This is vital at a time when there will be heavy cuts to police budgets. Candidates backed by political parties can count on the support of party members. Independent candidates will, however, be disadvantaged by the lack of advance publicity.
I hope many independents will be elected, because this will help the independence of the Police and prevent undue influence by political parties.
There is a (presumably very expensive) advertising campaign at the moment, directing people to the website http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/ to find out about local candidates.
When I actually looked at it, it says to return after 26 October for candidate details. So not only do people have to make an effort after the website, they have to remember to do so in a few weeks’ time after the advert was broadcast.
This is the very first I’ve heard of “an Election of Police-Commissioners …”
(by The Public Electorate ?)
but it is immediately clear that any politics-handcuffed candidates can only blindly enforce an imminently-likely martial-law dimension of Policing-&-Propping-Up-An-Ineffectual-but-DeFacto-
&-Default Divided Governmental-Oligarchy.
———-
Handcuffedly worse:
fewer police,
constricted incomes-but-ballooning-expenses,
increasing criminality and wrongful-violence
is only going to ’cause’ tighter
and quickly-eventually
tougher-zero-tolerances and crushing-crowd-controls, even by the remaining available and competent police.
———–
“Independents” and “Cross-Benchers” alike are largely thus like unto the Lawyer-profession sitting in the middle milking the disputed Cow the tail of which is being pulled by one “owner” and the horns by another but “better-entitled owner”.
Independent Commons MPs are largely known to be singularly pushing their own individual (often selfishly-personal) interests and further-perks outcomes, majorly before those stronger and more essential needs and affordable-hows of every one of their franchised constituents, and of non-franchised but legitimate residents in the Constituency.
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So we are again trapped between the Devil and the Deep-Blue-Sea;
we have no hope,
nor democraticaly-effective way,
of responsibly-and participatorily scrutinising every candidate
and of making our informed & rationally-deliberated choices.
It’s a catch-22. Personally I wouldn’t vote for a political candidate because it shouldn’t be a political post, but independents won’t have the publicity and campaign machinery behind them so a political candidate is likely to win.
I’ll turn out to vote, but whether I put an X next to one of the names or over the whole ballot remains to be seen.
I, likewise, shall vote, however, I will only vote for an independent.
But, in the main, no one knows about this election. What it is for or why it is needed.
Democratic ‘Britain’ in practice. Keep ahead of the game.
The fat adulterer is out there pushing his blubber around the trousers. He wants to enhance his House of Lords stipend, he isn’t satisfied with the expenses allowance. His wife wears the same amount of eye make up you see in the Burton/Taylor Cleopatra movie and the price of it is going up by the day.
Met a prospective Tory candidate this morning at the local market. When we challenged her about not being an independent her argument was that they have to be impartial, ie work for all in constituency and at least we know her values unlike an independent. Doesn’t wash with me but she had the party people with her, the local MP and expensive flyers to hand out to. Quite an advantage.
There is no such thing as a non-political candidate. Every man has his politics and it may be analysed according to party to which he may not formally belong.
To suggest that an “Independent” police commission candidate does not have political leanings or opinions which co-incide more or less with a political party is nonsense, arrant nonsense.
If anything “independent” in politics means far right, whether in parish councils, or second chambers.
Thus we would know precisely how an “independent” police commissioner would make his decisions.
Men are ALL political beings, and making political judgements is unavoidable whether in the courts of justice or parliament. It CANNOT be otherwise anywhere in the globalised world.
@Twm:
Agree absolutely with your train of thought. Which is why, when voting for anyone at all, you have to scrutinise their CV, both political and personal. Because they squirrel away the truth of their objectives keenly. Then, when it outs, you are left stunned with disbelief. As was the situation with the Blair creature in particuar.
I rarely change my mind once it is made up. However, on this matter I am changing my mind totally.
I shall not vote under any circumstances. As it is impossible to find out exactly who and what you are voting for. Or, as importantly, who is behind the candidate on offer.
I was numb when I read this in the, Sunday Telegraph. We are heavily infiltrated by US funding our politicians of one sort and another. Which is why they are so pro US propaganda and lets play follow my leader. They pay big bucks to those willing to spread their gross inequality far and wide. Look at Blair. Multi millionaire status for his little affiliation.
How this man, Mervyn Barrett, can be put up aa a candidte for police commissioner when he is found pandering to the tune of the Republican purse is an enigma to me. Which is one of the reasons it is imperative only those born in the UK are allowed to run for office. It may not cut this out altogether, but, it does ensure a more pro UK effort is probable.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9623068/The-secret-US-lobbyists-behind-Police-and-Crime-Commissioner-election.html#
Investigations into how many more of our ruling class are funded by the USA, or any other Nations political types come to that, slipping them into office without our consent or knowledge. Now it should be a requirement of voting rules. The public must be informed fully, prior to any polling day, who is funding the individual putting themselves up to run our country. Who are their backers.
Can you imagine, The Daily Mail, headlines if this had been a German or French backing political group? The ones they didn’t run with that is. Yet this creep doesn’t even draw their attention.
And do we really need police commissioners here. All that tripe about you will have a ay at last is simply hogwash. They don’t in the States and you won’t here either. It is money for the boys. A job for my chums to the tune of £100,000 per annum to the tax payer. Those same tax payers who must lose their benefits because of austerity being necessary.