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How to put right the corruption, secrecy and non-accountability rampant in Britain

6465890_sThe Independent Police Complaints Commission has cleared armed police officers of any wrongdoing over the killing of Mark Duggan over 3 years ago, following an inquest verdict of lawful killing a year ago. However the police officer who fired the fatal shots refused to be interviewed by the IPCC; why could he not be compelled to answer questions? A week ago it was decided that no further action would be taken after the child sex abuse victims in Rochdale were repeatedly let down by police officers, one of whom retired to escape prosecution; why is retirement allowed to preempt prosecution?

For 40 years, it is now alleged, investigations into a high-level paedophile ring in Westminster were halted and evidence suppressed to protect senior MPs and police officers. For a decade industrial-scale phone-hacking at the News of the World was brushed aside by the police for fear of Murdoch. Still no-one has been held to account for the illegal shooting of Jean-Charles Menezes in July 2005, or for the calculated deception used by undercover police officers against environmental activists, or even for the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 football fans died because of policing errors. But of course it’s not just the police.

Who was held to account when the bankers crashed the economy in 2008-9 and the taxpayers had to pay £70bn to bail them out, and are still paying now though semi-permanent austerity? Nobody. Which senior bankers have been prosecuted for pensions-mis-selling, endowment mortgage fraud, the enormous PPI scam, Libor-rigging, or servicing drug cartels or pariah states? None. Who was held to account for GCHQ’s mass surveillance of private communications for a decade unbeknown to the public (and would very likely still be continuing now were it not for Edward Snowden)? Nobody. Were the biggest miscreants over the MPs’ expenses scandal prosecuted? No.

So what should be done to restore accountability which has clearly broken down across the board? The regulatory system is clearly not working properly, either because it is ineffective (as Ofgem is in supervising the energy market) or because it issues fines whilst not prosecuting the perpetrators (as the FCA in supervising financial markets) or because it lacks the powers to enforce its decisions (as the Ombudsman system does). What is clearly needed is a back-up system that can really enforce due penalties.

The most effective way to do that would be an extension of the powers of Commons Select Committees which already effectively hold ministers to account, but need further powers to enforce resignations or disqualification from office which are ultimately the only really effective sanctions. Where a Select Committee, after reviewing a controversial case and publicly interviewing the personnel concerned, believes that further action is required beyond that prescribed by the existing regulatory body, it should be empowered to draft an appropriate motion for debate on the floor of the House and a vote which would register a final decision.

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5 Comments

  1. John.P reid says:

    Without sounding perm tic, but Jean Charles Femenes, death wasn’t unlawful,it was an open verdict, retiring from police doesn’t mean one can escape prosecution, it means in sime cases if someine has left their job, they can’t be disciplined,I know this my mum left work as a building society girl, and got a letter in the pst after she’d retired saying she hadn’t been right in a decision and any future reference would be marked down,

    HilsBorough is still on going, regarding archduke, there were 2 police (I not you dint mention labour councillors, told off) those two police,one a Pac who’d been let down in not being given the right training,and An Inslector who hadn’t been given the right advice,as for a Mark Duggan I feel it’s app king you compare a lawfully killed criminal on his way to shoot dead another man, with JCM, it’s a right not to be interviewed in court several over the years have decided on that, including Jeremy Thorpe,

    When the locals at Broadwater farm hid PC blakelocks murderers,Fyer the riot the locals were given credence to his the killers by Harrimgey council coming out with 180 anti white racist comments about the police,making the locals feel it was O.k,to hid the murderers, I’m still waiting for Labour in Harringey council to pay Blakelocks widow compensation

  2. Billericaydickie says:

    Don’t forget Blair Peach and Harry Stanley.

    1. John.P reid says:

      Harry stably was lawfully killed, telling everyone in th pub, th chair leg, in the bag wad a gun, he also bought a friend a takeaway and called it his last supper

  3. Billericaydickie says:

    I’ll check but was anyone ever convicted of Blakelock’s murder?

    1. John.P reid says:

      Silcott Brqithwaite and Raghip were found guilty, with Mark Pennant and Mark lambie cleared,due to my,e Masnfield proving the witnesses who ID him were unreliable, pennant went back to Jamaica got found guilty of another murder charge ,Lambie was jailed in 2002 having believed to ha e killed other people,head of the Tottenham dem man, he spent the next 11 years in prison fro torture kidnap, he tried to break out, he had other convictions for additional tourube kidnaps at that time,

      Silcott Braithwaite and Raghip said they weren’t under duress when they made their confessions, in Silcott case he refused to sign it, in 1991 a scanner test found, additional words,spelling mistake corrections may have ben added to his statement, he was cleared,due to it being unsafe,the 2 cops who wrote his statement as he said it were cleared of malpractice. Abraithwaite, wished he’d had a solicitor present when he made his statement, and Raghip, took another iq test. Proving he wasn’t smart enough to be interviewed with a solicitor not present this time,

      In all fairness they should have never been found guilty in such weak evidence, Silcotts one said the local youths wouldn’t grass in him, Raghip, said he had a pole in his hand. And would have liked to have poked him, and Braithwaite said he stabbed the other copper laying in the floor ,in his leg

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