Calls to boycott the Met Police
From the Guardian today:
The National Black Police Association is threatening to run a public campaign urging ethnic minorities to boycott the Metropolitan police in an escalation of the race row engulfing the force.
Leading members have drawn up battle plans after a week in which the internal disputes of the Met have spilled out in public in a bitter war of words. The NBPA told the Guardian it is planning a march on Scotland Yard of black and Asian officers from across the country, a vote of no confidence in the management and a campaign warning young would-be officers from diverse backgrounds not to join the Met.
Given the appalling treatment of Tarique Ghaffur over the past few weeks, and I’ve not known anyone more loyal to the Met Police, I think this is a good move.
Why not wait for the outcome of the employment tribunal and the MPA investigation?
Wrongdoing on the part of the Met ought to be evidenced before a boycott is urged as this will have a negative impact on community relations between ethnic minorities and the police.
can we help to “boycott” the police? can we, say, mug someone and then refuse to be arrested? perhaps that would help resolve this issue.
b’shalom
bananabrain
bananabrain (2) is correct. Perhaps more than that, perhaps someone could explain how boycotting the police somehow promotes equality and/or diversity. Or indeed helps the public whos’e interests seem to be rather secondary here.
The cynic in me thinks this is in no small part a publicity stunt and a relatively cheap attempt to secure a guilty verdict in the court of public and media opinion. That, after all, in these race tribunals is far more important than any real verdit.
In saying that there is an iron law tht the more an organisation, any organistion, bangs the diversity drum, the more it invites litigation. The Met have not altogether gone out of their way to avoid getting embroiled in these sort of things.
The boycott is not of the police, but to say that ethnic minorities should seriously re-consider if they want to join the police force, given the treatment meted out to people at the force.
Being one of the few civilians outside the Met to have ever been a member of the MBPA,( I still carry my membership card) I can’t stress how scared I am with the very real prospect of the MET imploding into civil war. With both Deputy Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur and Chief Superintendent Ali Dizaei coming under reused attack and increased pressure to put up and shut up, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Every man, woman and child inside the boundary of the M25 should be concerned about what’s going on in the Met because it isn’t smart and it isn’t funny.
Sunny (4) – ‘The boycott is not of the police’
You may want to have a chat with whoever wrote the headline!
As to the treatment you allude to, it sounds rather like you’ve made your mind up already about the outcome of this?
MaidMarian
I was prepared to give you the benefit until you turned cynic. By any chance do you earn a living spinning lies for the Met’s PR dept?
TheDude (7) – To answer your question – no.
FOr what it’s worth, I was prepared to give you the benefit until you threw a self-indulgent hissy fit.
MM – What ‘evidence’ is there to weigh up exactly? The least they could have done is treated him with the respect he deserves and take his points seriously. Instead the guy’s [Ghaffur] been villified like he’s a small time operator.
And that doesn’t even take into account the long-running smear campaign against Dizaei, which has started again thanks to the Mail.
Fair enough Sunny. You should contact the Ministry of Justice – we could save the taxpayer billions every year.
Why go to all the trouble and expense of the tribunal system and the statutory process when we could just ask you what the outcome of every case should be?
As to Dizaei, yep, that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Perhaps we could ask Peter Hitchens to reign in the creepy plotters he works for/with?
I don’t hold much hope for Hitchens reigning in anyone at the Mail.
I like the idea of asking me what every outcome should be
Make it happen MM!
Whatever happened to the idea of sub judice?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub_judice
It is actually ridiculous that this case is being prejudiced. We have enough shitty spin doctors in politics, let us at least keep them out of our law.
There are so many people now that, on the basis of an op-ed know the truth.
Well, no they don’t.
It is up to a jury of our peers to decide, not the press, not even bloggers.
I’m as influenced as anyone by what I read, but frankly, it just re-inforces my prejudices.
I happen to believe that the Met is not institutionally racist.
It is, instead, a massive subscriber to Judge Dread. It is that vision of the future – cop, jury and judge -rolled into the one person that I find abhorrent.
It is frankly not a reasonable, or reasoned, model. Nor one that sensible folk should subscribe to.
You do have to believe, I think, in due process. And that includes letting a jury decide.
Don’t get me started on how prejudiced the Met was against Mr de Menezes.
They lied about him, right left and centre. And for why? Because our cops think they have a right to carry guns and kill us.
No, they don’t.
There are many both inside and outside the Met who believe that the institutional racism inherent of that organisation was and is something that came from the top down as well as the bottom up. This is not something that just sprung out of nowhere. Talk to any member of the MBPA, those brave brothers and sisters that ACTUALLY work day in and day out within the MET, serving the public they have pledged to protect and they will tell YOU chapter and verse about the what’s going down at New Scotland Yard. I spent three years getting up close and personal with all aspects of the Metropolitan Police and to this day I still maintain many good contacts within that institution. So it really pisses me off when I have to hear the opinions of people based on pure fairy tales or in the case of Maid Marian, much much worse. Now if she has got ANY evidence countering the integrity of Mr Ghaffur, then I’ll shut the fuck up! But until that happy day…….
And don’t get me started on the persecution of Ali Dizaei. Now if that’s a made up story, then I’m Michael Jackson in drag, singing bluegrass.
You don’t need a ‘smear’ campaign; this is reason enough for Ali Dizaei to no longer be a police officer.
“I will take such revenge from you that, like a dog, you will be sorry that you will never treat me like this again.
“Mandy, I am going to declare war on you and I have declared it as of now. See what I will do to you. From now on, you are dead. I will start with your mum first, if in the next hour you don’t leave a message.
“I am so emotionally disturbed now that anything is possible from me.
“You are not safe. I am going to come and catch you, on my mother’s life.
“You want war, bitch, you’re going to get some war. You will see now what I can do, so you will cry for years.
“First, I will start with your family, then I come to you and your reputation. I will spread all over London that you are a prostitute.”
source plz?
actually, never mind…got it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030074/Race-war-Met-We-reveal-whats-REALLY-going-Scotland-Yard.html
If there is evidence, let it speak for itself. Please do not play into the papers game of pre judging this. Trust a jury to get it right.
Has Tariique Ghaffur been badly treated? Someone who gets to to third-in-command of an organisation the size of the Metropolitan police certainly isn’t a victim of simple racism. The problem in the last few weeks is that it seems to be impossible for him to work with Sir Iain Blair. We need to know who is at fault there. That is a different matter to plans for policing the Olympics- which were the original casus belli. As both would be dealt with by the Racial Commission, Ghafffur has no need to publicise it except to further embarass Sir Iain. What is also in question is Sir Iain’s judgment and ability to get on with other police officers. Other able officers seem to have suffered because of their personal relations with him.
Roger’s point must be right.
Only got to number three – must be racism.
That doesn’t sound quite right.
And the boycott idea is simply nuts.
Fortunately I live within the City of London police boundary…think I’ll stick close to home for a while!
Roger
You’ve only got half of the story correct. The other half concerns NSY giving off the record (hush,hush) briefings to anyone who will listen, rubbishing the name of Mr Ghaffur behind the man’s back. This is the practice of the dark arts, pure and simple and all Mr Ghaffur as done has brought the whole thing out in the open. Now at least this fist fight can take place on a level playing field.
Douglas
I couldn’t agree with you more alas evidence or the lack thereof isn’t at issue here because you can bet that both sides have lined up their ducks on this one. What is at issue here is simple. Should the head of a institution be held responsible for it’s corporate actions, irrespective of the size or importance that the institution may have in the wider society? Simply put, are some people ( ie: both Blairs ) untouchable? Win or lose, it will be this central issue that determines the success or failure of each man’s case. Like the saying goes. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If the Met wins its case against Mr Ghaffur but as a direct consequence loses it ability to do as it likes irrespective of those same consequences, then that will be a result.
I’d have thought so. Morely, if that’s a word, even.
Something like that. I have no knowledge about Mr Ghaffurs’ case. I do however have a complete understanding of the wish of our cops to arm themselves. Which is a ridiculous transfer of power.
I’m not convinced this boycott is a good idea. Seems to me it’ll reduce numbers of bme officers and put even more pressue on the ones already there…
leon,
quite.
What a stupid and vile idea. Nobody – specially minorities – gets to win if ethnic minorities start boycotting the Met. This is nothing more than to pressure the justice system to provide a positive outcome for Tarique Ghaffur. If there is evidence that he was victim of racism, then we will know. From what I’ve read, I’ve seen little that justifies all of this… except from someone who has a big ego, and wants to settle a score.
Ravi
If you’re going to be so one-sided, why not go the whole hog and pluck out an eye, that way at least you’ll have a viable excuse.
If the Met still can’t get the recruitment and retention of BME officers right after Macpherson, then pray tell how the hell are they going to do it NOW? Wakey, wakey rise and shine everybody. It’s time to smell the coffee!
Douglas
BTW: Most coppers I know wouldn’t want to touch a loaded gun with a barge pole, even now. Don’t believe the hype.
The Dude,
That is no solution at all, neither it is. Ravi has it more to the point:
except for his/her misunderstanding of trial by jury. Which must come first, don’t you think?
Absolutely, Douglas.
The Dude at 27,
Frankly that is not as reassuring as it ought to be. Some cops are now regularily armed, airports for example. I believe that we have given up on an unarmed Police in favour of a US concept. Which is what we do. Whatever abides in the US becomes de rigour for the UK.
Dude,
Just about everyone involved has been rubbishing one another behind their backs. The Metropolitan Police seem to be organisationally disfunctional- not just this instance, but the fact that people can reach high rank without clear and specific responsibilities, the general level of information leakage and spin at all levels of the organisation, the relationship with the government and the mayor of London- again, no clear demarcation of responsibilities- and the general way the Met operates- the very fact that ego clashes can have such an effect on the organisation and that senior officers can think their own egos so important is an obvious one. Much of this- perhaps all of it- isn’t Sir Iain Blair’s fault, but he seems to have accepted it as normal on his way up and when he took charge made no attempt to change it. Ghaffur seems to have acquiesced- and used it- when he found it convenient.
Roger
There is a MASSIVE difference between what you would call “information leakage” and what I would call “deliberate spin and misinformation”. Otherwise I couldn’t agree with you more. Right now the MET is a mess but at least it’s a mess which thanks to Mr Ghaffur, everyone can now see. I have to come back to my original point @P21. Which ever side of the fence you happen to stand the situation within the MET is now clear and open to the full glare of public scrutiny. This can only be a good thing.
Douglas
I’ve got some bad news for you. None of us live in a fair world and the MET plays by the Chicago rules, which equates to no rules. So Douglas, please don’t blame the player (Ghaffur), blame the game.
Roger
I’ve just re-read your 1st sentence (31) and I can’t see how you can equate the actions of one man (Ghaffur) with that of a whole institution (the Met), because that’s what Ian Blair represents.
The Dude @ 33,
Fair enough, Just not the planet I wish to live on. Whether Ghaffur, who was two off replacing the Kratos fan, Blair, is right to have employed his own security or not is obviously beyond the point.
Just asking, What is going on? This is genuinely weird shit.
Regardless of the treatment of any individual, it is reprehensible to endorse a boycott that will set race relations back by a decade and jeopardise public safety.
What some people want is a return to the militant race politics of the late 20th century- they can’t bear to face the fact that things have moved on.
Any boycott will backfire spectacularly with the public. Even a fool can see the progress that’s been made at the met, except for the 20th century race dinosaurs picking this fight.
If you really had the courage of your convictions in calling for this boycott, you would have called for it on the ‘influential’ Liberal Conspiracy too.
ac256,
Why is it regardless, exactly? I’d have thought, correct me if I am wrong, that for the third most important copper in the Met to have to employ his own security is pretty, what? Amazing? What is going on here?
ac256
You’re funny! Ha ha. I mean you must have been in a time warp the last 25 years. Pray tell, when exactly did peace break out at the Met? I can tell you now it was not before, during or after the murder of Stephen Lawrence. I’d be really grateful if you could fill me in and take us all back to those happy days of Dixon of Dock Green.
Douglas
To tell you the truth, I’m as much in the dark about what is going on at the Met, than you are. It’s another reason why I’m so glad that this is now being brought to an head. At the end of the day neither of these dudes is a Jean Luc Picard and that’s what we need at the MET, someone with absolute integrity, which is earned through both action, deed and word. Mr Blair lost the plot when he reduced the death of a innocent man to a mere issue of Health and Safety.
“I can’t see how you can equate the actions of one man (Ghaffur) with that of a whole institution (the Met), because that’s what Ian Blair represents.”
Ghaffur rose to a high position in that same institution, Dude, and seems to have aspired to lead it. If the whole institution is intrinsically disfunctional- which it is if one man can “represent” it- he was part of that corruption. Equally, the whole institution is disfunctional if Ghaffur claims to fear for his life and to need outside decurity. For obvious reasons if he is right, but equally if he is wrong and an utter nutter like that was very near the top and had senior responsibilities until very recently.
From what I’ve read, I’ve seen little that justifies all of this… except from someone who has a big ego, and wants to settle a score.
You’ve never met Tarique Ghaffur have you?
BTW – TG isn’t saying the whole police is racist. He’s saying that senior officers have run whispering campaigns against him and he’s been treated badly by the top. That’s a failure of upper mgmt rather than saying the entire Met police is racist to the core.
“BTW – TG isn’t saying the whole police is racist. He’s saying that senior officers have run whispering campaigns against him and he’s been treated badly by the top. That’s a failure of upper mgmt rather than saying the entire Met police is racist to the core.”
It’s also a question of whether Ghaffur is a victim of racism at all rather than a personality clash or not doing his job/not being allowed to do it. Given that this seems to have been happening for years within the Met it’s also a question of the effectiveness and morality of the Met’s formal and informal management methods regardless of wh0- if anyone- was justified in the case of Ghaffur.
Sunny (40) – ‘He’s saying that senior officers have run whispering campaigns against him and he’s been treated badly by the top.’
With all respect, that doesn’t sound particularly like a racial issue. Personality maybe, but you can’t seriously be telling me that personality clashes are always and everywhere racially motivated?
TG may not be saying that the Met as a whole are racist, but that surely is the undertone to the NBPA campaign in the article (assuming that the Guardian has reported accurately).
I just get the feeling that this is just another stalking horse that the Ian Blair haters intend to use to the full. Whether TG knew that would be the effect of his actions is another question. My instincts are that he fully knew his claim would rapidly become a circus.
I presume that Ghaffur’s accusations are going to be stronger than those of Commander Shabir Hussain who just lost his racism claim against the Met last week.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4305489.ece
Ken Livingstone says that there is no way that Blair has been racist towards Ghaffur.
And he has not been happy with the way Ali Dizaei has been running the NBPA.
Livingstone also said he thought that the case of Yasmin Rehman was weak.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/2777398/Senior-Muslim-woman-sues-police-over-discrimination.html
This is all very dire.
Don’t assume those at the top have no racial agenda.
Hussain not winning does not mean no racism took place. Some jury’s are hardly independant.
This piece helped me in writing a review of the Tarique Ghaffur saga – thank you very much! I tried to do a pingback but I’m not sure if it worked, so I thought I’d say hello the old fashioned way!
btw, the piece is online at http://www.fourgroups.com/blog/archives/13/tarique-ghaffur-ian-blair-and-the-metropolitain-police-service/
Sunny @ 4 said:
I think anybody wanting to join the police force should seriously reconsider (and look for a real job, not a job as the boot boys of the state), given the treatment meted out to people by the force.
Political policing by the truckload. One of my friends still has a broken arm after his “treatment” by the MET at Climate Camp, for literally doing nothing more than being a bystander in a field when they decided to beat the shit out of a bunch of non-violent protesters for doing nothing more than being in a field with the landowner’s permission.
Justify that!
The MET are the worst of the lot – they know it, and they’re proud of it too. I have personally overheard them gloating about it to each other, for goodness sake! Bunch of fascist pigs, the lot of ‘em.
Why anybody would want to join the despicable and corrupt police, let alone anybody from an ethnic minority background, is totally beyond me.
Actually, I know the reason. It’s because you believe you are of superior character to the rest of the people around you, and because you have no problem doing whatever your political masters tell you to do, even if that means beating the shit out of others from the same downtrodden section of society as yourselves.
The police are the most dangerous violent gang on the streets, by far (not least because they have a monopoly on the legal use of violence), and I’m sure as worldwide economic meltdown gets worse, this will only become increasingly obvious.