Poppycock

Staying in a bed and breakfast for a poetry conference this weekend, I did something I very rarely do, and watched TV. As I tucked into my morning fry-up it was there on the wall, the sound respectably inaudible. Nevertheless, I got the picture. It is Remembrance Sunday on the Andrew Marr show and we start with the news. Shots of a 5000 year old city, exploding in smoke (War is difficult isn’t it?). Graphics of quotes from US statements about terrorists (but war is righteous), shots of radical preacher complete with beard (war is necessary). Brave spies, un-hostaged returning to the US to be greeted by their tearful family. The Berlin Wall, 25 years on. Isn’t freedom great?

Blame Games: Riots and Responsibilities

Report commissioned by Guardian and LSE into the riots dug up the unsurprising finding that many people who were out on the streets in August are unhappy with the police. Interviews broadcast on World at One yesterday (5th December) had people on Clarence Road saying, “They’re horrible especially to black people” and “when they know you’re different they don’t like it.” Testimonies of discrimination and humiliation abound (see link above). Black people, an earlier LSE study showed, are 26 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. Tim Orde, chairman of Association of Chief Police Officers, says people should take more responsibility.