Reigning On The Parade

When I was young and thinking about future careers, my Uncle advised me to become a Coronation Programme Seller. He said it would probably require me to work only once or twice in my lifetime and meanwhile I could claim unemployment benefits as there was no vacancy available for me. I do not think he anticipated that I would have been able to pass an entire working life without having to take it up, because I was too old for the role when the chance arrived. I retired before I ever did my allotted job, a bit like most of the Royal Family.

In 1953, the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, there was a surge of sales of the then comparatively new-fangled TV sets. Where it was known someone in a street had one of these devices, on Coronation Day people called in to watch all day long. This year the crowds standing on the Procession route were taking selfies and gawping at what was happening on their smartphones as the Coach passed by.

Britain does these things quite well, albeit a bit archaic for my taste. I love history, but prefer it to stay in the past. Anyway, as I couldn’t work on the day, I thought I should do something to mark the occasion so here is a quick glance at changes since 1953, including Justice.

Injustice Hangs Around

Capital punishment was still in force in the early 1950s, and there were 15 executions during 1953 itself. In 1952 there had been 25, and in 1954 there would be 17, with 12 in 1955.?The ethics and value of the punishment were by then doubted and from 1956 on there were 2 or 3 a year until the final UK execution in 1964. Final abolition of executions for murder came in 1969, (1973 in Northern Ireland), and for Treason in 1998.

Coronation year coincided with one of Britain’s worst injustices when Derek Bentley was hung for his alleged part in the death of a policeman, and there is a direct link to today. The case of Craig and Bentley is well known. They were two young men who went out to commit a robbery, and Chris Craig fired a bullet that killed a police officer, PC Sidney Miles. Craig was 16, therefore too young to be executed. Bentley was 19 so old enough. Although he had no weapon and disputed being aware that Craig was armed, he was found guilty by Joint Enterprise because officers claimed he called out “Let him have it”. These words and their meaning is still disputed. There is no doubt at all that the public shock at the pointless death of a police officer led to a thirst for revenge, so Derek Bentley was hung.

There was however a significant and growing feeling around that Bentley had been unfairly treated and after decades of campaigning he was given a posthumous Royal Pardon in 1993 and finally in 1998 his conviction was quashed as the Court of Appeal concluded there had been numerous errors in the evidence and actions of the Judge in the case that may have misled the Jury. Sad to report, Joint Enterprise still causes countless injustices today despite the Supreme Court having ruled in 2016 that the Crown Prosecution Service and Courts had wrongly used the law for decades.

Another execution in 1953 helped lead to the end of Capital Punishment when John Christie was hung for murders of women whose bodies were found in his property at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill. There is no doubt Christie was the serial killer responsible, but three years earlier a man named Timothy Evans had been executed for two of Christie’s crimes, the murder of Evans’ wife and daughter. Whilst Evans later received a posthumous pardon, his conviction has never been quashed as it would be “too expensive.” The system killed Evans, but failed to put it right. It is an important distinction that a Pardon says, “you did it, but we forgive you.” Only the verdict being overturned says “you were innocent all the time.” Ending injustice should not have a price tag but still does.

No Change

Even today those wrongly convicted struggle to have their cases fully and properly reviewed and overturned and whilst of course it is extraordinarily upsetting for families where one of their relatives has suffered a historic injustice, it is perhaps even worse for those today with people still locked in prison for decades who cannot get their cases reviewed. The State seems to rely on our belief that police, prosecution, judges and indeed juries cannot make mistakes, and that if there have been errors it has to be tolerated because if these are exposed, we will lose confidence in the “system”.

It is however perfectly clear to me, that “system” is truly undermined when obvious injustices are permitted to continue because if they are overturned people will ask difficult questions. The concept that it is better for ten guilty people to go free to avoid one innocent person be convicted is not extended after a jury has decided, even though juries consist of human beings who are swayed by persuasive and eloquent barristers, pushy judges, and public moods and prejudices. New structures have been introduced to enable out of time appeals via the Criminal Cases Review Committee, but the hurdles put in the way of those who have been victims of injustice make it almost impossible to get things put right.

Think of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four from recent times as well as those on Joint Enterprise. We should not need the Press to investigate and find errors. It must have been more convenient when people were speedily executed, buried, and forgotten when they had been wrongly judged, rather than now when they are in prison and arguing their own cases publicly.

The ancient traditions of the Courts; with Robes and Wigs, the format of cases, the complexity of evidence giving, and the trappings of Crown plus solemn sworn oaths, can tilt some people towards believing that those in a Dock are guilty because otherwise the state would not put them there in the first place. They can be awe struck by the surroundings which ooze privilege and thus inclined to feel deference. The adversarial style aids the articulate.

That is why the right to challenge Jury decisions must be made more equitable. No jury is perfect, they are humans swayed by preconceptions and eloquence. Reductions in Legal Aid hamper defence teams. Justice may be blind, but it is not equal, and never has been.

Crammed Into Cells

Prison regimes are far less harsh than in 1953, but we now have four times as many people in prison as then, and whilst there have been significant improvements to sanitation and services, cells designed for single occupation are doubled up, and the aim of this Government is to increase the population even more. The numbers incarcerated remained constant from 1900 right up to the 1990s, but since then they have spiralled. There is no evidence that this actually does society any good, but an awful lot that community punishments should be the way forward. There are too many deaths in prison including suicides, tragic babies still-born in cells, plus self-harm. Unacceptable in every way in 21st Century Britain. Mental health support is lacking, and officers overstretched with insufficient time to properly supervise and assist those in distress.

I made one particularly depressing discovery when I saw a Parliamentary Question asked in February 1953. Isaac Pitman, a Conservative MP, asked the Home Secretary Sir David Maxwell Fife if the Department of Education’s national reading test could be used across all prisons. The Minister said it was a bit difficult so they could not do that, but if anyone else wanted to take it up they might be allowed so to do. I feel that the Ministry of Justice with their negative reactions to numerous well researched reports on prison education today, vital to rehabilitation, are still the same. They still say it is a bit tricky, a touch costly, and will be looked at again one day. Perhaps in another 70 years.

Other nations, including some in Europe, have learnt. Norway and the Netherlands prioritise rehabilitation and have sentencing rules that are clear and fair to all. Their reoffending rates are much lower than here, but we do not look at them. In Germany prisoners have a Trade Union who fight for fair pay for prison work, which interestingly was one of the aims of the great Victorian prison reformer Elizabeth Fry who knew this would encourage people inside to learn a trade and give them some money with which they could start new lives on release. How far we in Britain have regressed.

In Other News

December 1952 had seen the Great Smog of London, and thousands were still dying during 1953. Air quality became a priority, and still is. ?However clean air costs money so people still moan. Rationing was still partially in place following the War, and made a bit of a comeback during Covid. Poverty has always existed, and it is hard to justify why in these modern times it is allowed to continue. People die of hunger in 21st Century Britain and millions have to go to food banks. That is not progress.

Post war, refugees were a controversial issue, as was immigration from the dying British Empire. Once again, how depressing these are still subjects that inspire hatred and vile abuse. We were embroiled in the Korean War and how awful it is that the region is still a major danger to peace, and also that after all these years Russia and China are still considered a threat. We also now have a violent war in the heart of Europe, in Ukraine. I am sure that when Queen Elizabeth’s long reign was starting all those watching assumed these matters would be settled by now and that the comparatively newly constituted United Nations would oversee a peaceful, fair, world. The National Health Service was new, and people were enthused, whereas now we are depressed and seeing hard working nurses and doctors feeling exploited. Life expectancy is better, science has evolved, and so has technology, though the Internet and social media do not seem to spread wisdom but rumour and prejudice. Mind you, in the early 1950s thefts of phones were much lower, mainly because they were all tied to the kitchen wall by thick cables and not so easy to pinch.

I am certainly not nostalgic for olden times, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be in my view, but do not sense a tide of optimism that was certainly found back then. It was anticipated there would be no more wars, no more hunger, first class health free for all, improved free education available, and improving times with the new young Queen. We anticipated Shakespeare’s Brave New World. We got Huxley’s. Find me that euphoria today please, and send it over.

Sing Us A New Song

If the monarchy did not exist, we would have a Presidential system and I am not totally convinced that we would be significantly better off. Who would be President (shudder)? I do rather despair of the concept of swearing loyalty and obedience to the crown, and prefer to consider we should be loyal to the nation and our fellow citizens. For instance whilst other states have stirring national anthems that call on everyone to love their land and fellow citizens whilst building barricades, we simply ask God to look after the Monarch and make him happy and glorious. It is also a bit of a dirge.

However on balance I want the monarchy to continue with its constitutional role. With a new song.

King Charles has been involved with charities in his name that have given practical support to those in prison, as did his father, with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. He has through his life seemed progressive in many ways. He has no direct role in politics, but I hope he will find a way to speak out on the need for a change of attitude to criminal justice and to place fairness at the heart of the realm. The attitude to criminal justice over the past 70 years has moved, but not far enough.

As for those who were out on the streets of London for the Coronation taking endless photos and waving plastic flags, it was too late for me to work as intended flogging them all a programme, but hope they did not get too wet as it was unfortunately not just King Charles who was reigning on that day. The King fulfilled his destiny last Saturday, but it was, alas, too late for me to fulfil mine.