No quick-fire solutions, please
CHARLES Clarke has for sometime drawn admirers for his
intellectual prowess not so commonly found among his
fellow cabinet members. It could be said at one level that
last night (Wednesday) he also demonstrated political courage
with his tour of the murder mile. We trust he
will not return to Whitehall with quick-fire solutions, accompanied
by a dash of spin doctoring, to address the crisis of social
instability facing differing parts of the borough.
We can only repeat the advice we gave the Town Hall last month.
Every effort should be concentrated on the creation of youth
facilities, youth facilities and yet more youth facilities.
This of course will not solve societal problems but it will
be a step in the right direction.
Press guilty of racism
THE Tories are calling for the head of Sir the Metropolitan
Police chief, Sir Ian Blair in a Commons motion over
his ill-advised remarks on the Soham murders. But when he
accused the media of being institutionally racist he was not
far off the mark.
While the liberal press can be said to have adopted an even-handed
approach to race reporting, the popular papers with
the exception of the Daily Mail stand guilty of being
antediluvian. The debate on racism in the media was started
by the National Union of Journalists nearly 30 years ago.
Progress has been made. More minority ethnic group staffers
can be found in the newsrooms of newspapers, radio and TV.
But the media still fails to reflect Britain as it is.
Man of the people
FRANK Dobson has been the best health minister Britain has
had since the 1970s. Sacked by Blair six years ago, the NHS
has never been the same since. Alan Milburn showed he was
just another Yes Minister, John Reid faded away, while Patricia
Hewitt is capricious, shallow and supine. Those who have followed
her career since the 1980s may well say: I told you
so.
Fortunately, Dobson stands up for the people. Head down, he
is ready to butt against Hewitts cataclysmic plan to
privatise the NHS by stealth.
His attack this week on the green-light given to a US company
to take over a GP practice in Derbyshire deserves public support.
Ming be merciful
MENZIES Campbell is rumoured to want to take the Lib Dems
to the right. This would be disastrous for the party in Camden.
So far, they have managed to turnaround a growing number of
Labour voters. Put the Lib Dems right of centre, and their
hopes in Camden may well be dashed. They have enough on their
plate to cope with the current crop of scandals.
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