The Age Of Enlightenment

In a strange way that I shall explain later, the Home Secretary has reminded me that I am now moving relentlessly towards being old enough to stand for election as President of the USA. I am still a couple of decades or so short of the man who has just gifted one of his sons control of major Newspapers and TV stations across the Western World but hope to reach his level one day too. Of course the chances of my having the opportunity for either of these careers is limited, the first by my not being American, the second because I am not filthy rich, but it is the thought that counts. I fear that the people I have cited may not provide evidence to support the old saying that age brings wisdom, but I guess they do demonstrate older people can contribute to public life, for good or evil.

It is the tendency to suggest Britain was once Utopia that persuaded me that those of us who are slightly older but not in positions of power should discuss the times we lived through. The passion for pretending the past was wonderful stops people looking forwards, enabling politicians to avoid hard truths. We need people to demand a better future instead of fantasising over times that never were.

Only The Good Die Young

In 445 BC, a Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote that those whom the Gods deem good die young. It reflected the story of a Priestess who, impressed by her two sons’ loyalty and support for her, prayed to the Goddess Hera to reward them. In a twist typical of sneaky Greek Gods, her award was to kill them. A deity inspired death was considered an honour. I am delighted not to have been blessed in that way, however what is beyond dispute is that our thoughts of famous people are warmer when they die at an early age.

Think of President John Kennedy, who was assassinated at the age of 46 just three years after his election, and who will always be fondly remembered. However his successor, Lyndon Johnson, who continued the same policies Kennedy launched in Vietnam is not. His youthful death freezes him in our memories as a young, ambitious, eloquent, charming man. Johnson, doing what Kennedy initiated, is deemed a warmonger. Similarly, figures from outside politics such as Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, indeed Princess Diana, are always young, beautiful, and vibrant. Perfectly frozen in time.? The moving poem “For the Fallen”, always read at Remembrance Services, says it best of all. “They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age will not weary them, nor the years condemn.”

It is not just those who have passed on we revere, but also think fondly of times past which never really existed. Our rosy memories of years gone by, or the unreal images of those days held by people who did not live through them, are also false. Usually inspired by today’s prejudices and pointless wishful thinking, some pretend the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, were years of blissful peace. Yet I remember seeing many mothers of my school friends wearing headscarves which covered bruises inflicted by their partners to hide the brutality that they suffered. I remember the warnings about people to avoid because they were known to “interfere” with children, including churchmen, teachers, and youth leaders, but nobody did anything about it. It was laughed off. I remember the panic about Mods and Rockers, gang violence, and of course football hooliganism. I remember hardships and poverty, and the lack of facilities for those with physical disabilities who were effectively trapped indoors or in homes and shunned, and those with learning difficulties bullied.

I certainly recall the casual racism all around when I was a child so that we found it amusing to mimic those with different accents and mock those who did not look like us. It was widespread on TV and also radio at that time. Young people carried knives, using them in fights. Mind you, far fewer phones were stolen, mainly because they were attached to walls with wires. Telephone boxes however were robbed and vandalised, so even they were not spared. People should be honest about those days.

Nothing Is New

A lot is said and written about shoplifting. I spent the first 8 years after I left school working in shops, and theft was always an issue. There was a difference between those who stole because they were hungry and desperate and those who were in criminal groups and stole as a profession, just as now. Back then staff in shops were there to serve customers and learnt very quickly to be seen to keep observation on potential thieves to deter them. Now shops have cut back on staff who now seem to just stack shelves. They have replaced staffed tills with self-scan. By doing that they create far more opportunities to pilfer. Perhaps they should review this, and pay staff decent wages to encourage them to be proactive in observing their customers. Interestingly, I saw a study that demonstrated that shop lifting is highest in areas where homelessness is at its highest level; hardly surprising. Poverty drives so much shoplifting, always has, and failing to distinguish between those who steal to eat and those who do it for gain by threatened severe punishment is lazy and will not solve the issue.

Shop thefts are not new, nor is the threat of terrorism. I worked for Woolworths during the period of the Northern Ireland Troubles and many of our days were interrupted by bomb threats and, from time to time, actual bombs. Again, people ignore this recent history. I certainly will not. I believe our passion for looking back through rose tinted spectacles is holding us back. A dreamy vision of past delights stops so many people imaging the world in which we really wish to live. Criminal justice reform is not a priority because nobody wants to look ahead to doing things in a different way.

The Lowest Common Denominator

All of this came to mind when the Home Secretary spoke at a recent meeting in New York. She was attacking, as always, Refugees and Asylum seekers. The supposed aim of her talk was to explore ways of stopping people sailing in small boats across the English Channel to claim asylum, but her speech was very light on actual facts or plans and full of rabble rousing rhetoric. She said that people were falsely claiming to be Gay to get refugee status, even though less than 2% of those applying say it is their sexuality that is their reason for coming here. She suggested, without evidence, foreign agents are sending them here to bring down our society, citing the evil Wagner Group who support Putin.

There is so much to pick from in her half hour presentation, but worst of all was her suggestion that “multi culturalism” is destroying our “culture.” I have always believed one of Britain’s strengths was our tolerance and gentle self-mockery. What exactly is this culture that is being overrun? Art, music, poetry? She cited disturbances around Europe, and in Britain, and said it is this multi racial society that causes them. She ignores for instance, Poll Tax Riots, disturbances during Miners’ Strikes, and numerous examples of Civil disobedience through modern history which were nothing to do with race. In this way she is trying to divert attention from matters that need quick resolution, including the backlog to assess Asylum claims, for which she is directly responsible, but keeps growing.

In other matters that need fixing the Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor, now happily reappointed, is calling for one in ten UK prisons to be closed as they are unfit for purpose and psychologists in Feltham YOI have to speak to young offenders through cell doors as there are insufficient guards to unlock doors. Court backlogs continue to grow as do the numbers held on remand for longer and longer, and the fabric of Court buildings is under examination for dodgy concrete. I am not even going to mention the chaos of the new High Speed Rail line, HS2. Intended to provide a super-fast track between London, Birmingham, and the north, now in limbo and may end up running from outer London to stop outside Birmingham. For those in The Scrubs, the London end will be close by so if you hop over the wall, you could rapidly reach a spot a few miles from Brum. (Note: this is not recommended) We spent billions to deliver this fast moving white elephant.

Politics In Limbo

There is going to be an election at some time between now and the end of 2024. What concerns me is that a debate on worthwhile Criminal Justice reform, so urgently needed, will be ignored in the meantime whilst people scramble for votes. Headline making political debates are always confrontational and I regret to say that many of the excellent Members of Parliament who at present constitute the Commons Justice Committee will be lost in the elections, some from retirement and some from being voted out. There is so much spare Parliamentary time now, yet the House of Commons regularly closes down at 4.30 p.m. as there is nothing on the agenda to discuss despite that so much of the fabric of our society is crumbling and proven injustices still exist.

There should be time made for debates concerning the state of our prisons as well as the injustices of which those who read Inside Time are well aware. However the system does not give much power to Parliament. MPs can introduce their own Bills, but unless they conform to Government policies and intentions, their chances of making progress are very low, indeed next to zero. Select Committees, where we actually see the very best work done by our elected representatives, undertake superb investigations and publish detailed reports, to find them all too often sidelined or bypassed. The Government cherry pick a few recommendations which they will implement and ignore the key topics. Debates on reform to the justice system in Parliament are sparsely attended and for those passionate about the subject under discussion they can be disappointing and even depressing.

I believe there is a need for reform of the way our democracy works to move away from confrontational debates on subjects such as Criminal Justice to find proper solutions, however that is a question for another day. It surely falls on all of us to ensure that when candidates in the General elections are holding public meetings, as they will, we are there to question them and challenge their preconceived prejudices on the way criminal justice is failing. We must take this opportunity. These unfortunate candidates desperately need our help to get them properly informed.

And those of us who are slightly older, can attempt to straighten out any misconceptions people may have of a pretend perfect past, and perhaps point the population towards a better, fairer, future. Maybe we can use the experience we gained as we advanced in age to bring enlightenment to help create a decent Britain for future generations. We should at least try.

#criminaljustice #education