No justice no peace, Solidarity with the family of Mark Duggan

The disgusting scenes yesterday of the jury in the Mark Duggan inquest ruling that he was lawfully killed whilst being unarmed sparked fury inside and outside of the Royal Courts of justice in London. Understandably the family of Mark are outraged and this will do little to help race relations in the area and relations with the police which are at an all time low I should expect today. If you believe any of the news reports he was a thug and “one of the most dangerous criminals in Europe” and there was no choice but to take him out. Except... The gun he was accused of holding, there was no evidence of his DNA on it. The jury were specifically told this. Mark’s DNA was on the box that was allegedly carrying this gun but not on the weapon itself. The jury concluded that he was unarmed when he was murdered but it was still lawful to kill him. They believed he threw the gun from a taxi before the police standoff. An eye witness was able to confirm Mark was not in possession of the gun but was holding a mobile phone in his hand. He testified that it appeared Mark was about to surrender when he was cruelly executed by the Met. The taxi driver that had driven Mark to the scene, his testimony was disregarded also. As @justinthelibsoc put it “The #Duggan taxi driver wasn't believed. The anon witness who claimed it was an execution wasn't believed. I wonder what they had in common.” An all-white jury sat in for this case (led by a South African – let’s think in the language of our oppressors for a moment) and chose to believe witness statements by the police over the damning eye witness statements by PoC. We are not surprised, we are livid. The disgusting news coverage by the BBC parroting police lies and trying to make out Mark was this violent criminal where in fact Stephen Fry has a worse criminal record than Mark dangerous and violent I think not… This incident describes perfectly the way ethnic people are treated in society. It is the most brutal and extreme examples but it is perfectly allegorical. A person of colour is identified as a problem. They are monitored and treated suspiciously, feared even cos of course many people do believe we are still in the savage stage. The white oppressors make a plan to take said coloured person out, in this instance it was an execution but for many of us it’s being sacked, it is being denied opportunities, it is being ministered and silenced and they create the narrative around you and your character, people will believe them when they say you are a liar or aggressive because of course non-white people just aren’t civilised. Evidence to the contrary doesn’t even hold water in court! Institutional racism is endemic at every level of British society. The courts, the police, we must not trust them. The journalists, the BBC, we must not trust them. Bosses, doctors, nurses, some of our friends; we cannot trust them. It doesn’t matter what we do, they will use our words to hang us if we dare to challenge this racism in the state. I do feel Brittan is still very racist reading a lot of the twitter comments last night it was a lot of white privileged people assuming he must be guilty as apparently he had a gun and he was black so he must have been up to no good. Such deep set in stone prejudices are hard to smash and break down. I believe the truth will out in the end as it has done with Hillsborough but for now we stand shoulder to shoulder with the family of Mark Duggan and all others who have been murdered by the police and the state. No justice no peace.

Policing on the cheap in Hertfordshire

It’s been revealed today that new recruits in Hertfordshire’s police force will be earning 2 thousand pounds less than they used to according to new plans unveiled today. The Tory Police and Crime Commissioner who never miss’s an opportunity to have his voice in the media has been speaking out today. Herts Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd HERTFORDSHIRE’S £75,000-a-year police chief supports the reduction of a constable’s starting salary to £19,000 per annum. Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd has backed the national plan to reduce new officer’s salaries, despite his Surrey and Hampshire counterparts going against the proposals and offering a higher amount. New constables joining Herts Police will now be on £2,000 a year less than before the recommendations on reform, made by the Police Arbitration Tribunal, and were accepted by Home Secretary Theresa May in January. Speaking at a meeting of Braughing parish council last Thursday, Mr Lloyd said: “I believe in the market. “You will still have 50 people applying for every job at £19,000. “They get a bloody good job, a great pension at the end and have a great career. “I think it’s a wonderful job and people are quite happy to start on £19,000. “I will look at the market if no one’s applying.” Officers in Hertfordshire will start on £19,000 if they join with no experience, but they will receive an annual regional allowance of £2,000. The package works out to £403 a week, £92 a week less than the average for the East of England. Mr Lloyd’s salary works out as £1,442 a week. Chair of the Hertfordshire Police Federation Neil Alston believes the lower starting salary could lead to narrowing of expertise in new recruits. He said: “I understand Mr Lloyd’s appreciation and worship of the free market principle, but there’s some more complex issues. “There might be lots of applicants, but they might not be the right applicants. “If you are a married person with a family to support you might not feel able to apply to join the police. “The diversity, and I mean that in every sense, may become very limited. “There might be plenty of fish to catch, but they might not be the right fish. “It’s likely to only be young people who probably live with their parents who can live on that sort of money.” Mr Alston acknowledged constables would be able to climb the salary ladder quicker than before, but he could see officers being poached by London’s Met police as it offers a greater package of benefits, including free tube travel. SO it looks like we’re doing policing on the cheap in Hertfordshire What socialists say? Police should have the democratic right to join a trade union and Fight for the right to strike For decent pay linked to average national earnings No to a two tier pay structure causing division To bring the police certainly the rank-and-file closer to the labour movement as they have more in common with workers at the lower end than the ruling c lass at the top.