At conference today it was like an Amir Khan boxing match. Suspense and action from round 1. Mr Paul McKeever today single handedly destroyed Theresa Mays police reform agenda with a no notes no nonsense speech that shook the Home Secretary’s bones to her foundations.

No other police officer has ever managed to upset a govt. train in this way. Speaking from the heart as he so often does Mr McKeever engaged his colleagues; but his biggest win is that he has now got the media channels on side. And this means only one thing; the public will finally begin to hear and read more and more about how police cuts of 20% will affect crime patterns and police service.

Whilst this was Mr Mckeevers finest 40 minutes the Home Secretary suffered a very damaging career blow. She was visibly shaking through her whole address and her mispronunciation of some of the names of officers who had fallen was just one sign of her unease. Her NVC’s disturbingly obvious. Her voice shaky throughout her speech.

And though she glared at those that dare challenge...

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Where were the Police when……..?

As Police officers know, perhaps better than most groups in society, there are a lot of aggrieved people out there. There a lots of groups who want to protest, demonstrate, and cause a commotion to get their point across. There are even groups of people who are professional protesters. They simply drift from one protest camp to another. They flip their beliefs to support any cause that allows them a good old protest. We know because we see it. We Police the protests and, lately at least, we are amongst them in protest.

A lot of these protesters choose not to support us by quoting actions that we have taken in protests they have been involved in. It’s not uncommon, when I’m in the pub, or the gym, talking about recent issues with somebody, for a member of the public to say “now you know how the miners felt” or “where were you when Nurses were protesting” etc. they believe that because we are the people who police these incidents that we were against them. That somehow if they help the...

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Colleagues

I am writing on behalf of our colleagues at the BBC who require our assistance following the #AntiWinsorNetwork Radio 4 interview recently.

Their Current Affairs Team are making two one hour long TV programs into the riots from the Police’s point of view, and this program is to mark one year since the riots.

They will be speaking with rioters about their involvement and would like to have actors talk about the police aspect from the point of view of officers who policed it. As with the Radio 4 program officers will not be identified.

The BBC say “We feel the story of last summer’s riots has never been told from the point of view of the officers who took the brunt of it with such bravery and commitment. We would like to interview police officers of all ranks about their personal experience on the ground, their feelings when faced with the biggest policing challenge of their generation, and their views about how future disturbances might be prevented”.

The programmes are scheduled for transmission in July and they...

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Judges Threaten to sue government!

Taken from :- The London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association
Some 400 judges have taken an unprecedented first step towards suing the Government over changes to their pensions that effectively amounts to a pay cut.They have sent a letter to the Lord Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, warning that if he proceeds with the controversial plans, they will challenge him in the courts.The action by the judges, who have instructed the international law firm Clifford Chance to send the “letter before action”, gives ministers 14 days to respond before legal proceedings are launched.It comes despite efforts by senior judges to negotiate behind the scenes to prevent the dispute escalating into what would be a ground-breaking legal action, pitching the judiciary against ministers.A judge would have to be found who was regarded by all sides as as sufficiently impartial and robust to hear a case brought by his judicial colleagues.This week the Ministry of Justice went ahead with laying regulations...

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Who do you think you’re kidding Mr Winsor?
So we’ve done the strongly worded letters. We’ve tried to speak to our MP’s. Some with limited success but many have just received draft replies or been ignored. We’ve started & signed petitions. We’ve Emailed,tweeted and posted messages on Facebook. Many things done have received limited attention but the government seem determined to continue with their policy of silencing us, smearing our reputation and pretending it’s not happening. Why?
Well it’s the commonly held opinion of many people affected that the driver for these changes is the PM Mr Cameron. His history and involvement with Sheehy being partial motivation but I suppose there must be more to it than that. I wont speculate. The 2006 speech he made, which has been well circulated, shows that he had an agenda of changing the Police service many years before being elected. 
This is part of the problem that the government face. The, so called, consultation carried out by Mr Winsor does not stand up to independent...

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Carry on. Be safe. I will now see you at Millbank.

@SirIanBlair

Post by Gene Hunt – Anti Winsor Network Co Founder

Last week I heard a short yet very accurate statement concerning the reforms proposed by Winsor. It was: Created By Peel  - Destroyed By Winsor!!!

Sir Robert Peel

I found this statement to be blunt, accurate, and to the point.

Sir Robert Peel was the ONLY decent Tory who did anything positive for the UK Police Service. He lay the foundations for the fine service that we have to this day. Now Peel has been dead for years and I know for a fact that he would be spinning in his grave if he could see what Winsor is doing to his legacy.

Over the last few months the Anti Winsor Network has gone from strength to Strength! Numbers have goe through the roof, the media have started to take us seriously and I have no doubt that those in Parliament have heard of our cause but still refuse to engage with us!

So I ask the question – where is Nick Herbert, where is Theresa May, the Home Secretary who PROMISED to fight for us? I will tell you. They are too busy protecting their...

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So apparently the changes to policing by the government are about improving the way we do things. They are about making us perform better. Or so we’re told. So let’s look at the police service as a business. Would you improve your business in the way the government have approached the ‘improvement’ of the Police service?  They started by a prolonged and cynical media campaign which focused upon criticising the way the Police behaved in certain high profile events.

Now i’m no business expert but according to most business experts this is not a good idea. Apparently a positive public relations campaign is better for you business. They then initiated a three pronged attack upon the pay and conditions of the employees of the service. Neyroud, Hutton and Winsor. All three launched at once. All three effectively causing cuts to the income and terms of staff crushing morale.

They of course went through a facade of independent consultation. That has now been completely undermined. Most notably Winsor has been shown to have false and misleading...

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This is a message from @SirIanBlair on the eve of May 10^th 2012 – I want to explore a few things that are whirring through my mind. British Policing and the Office of Constable, the mainstay of policing is facing big challenges; political intervention in policing is rife and this is bad news for both the rank and file and the public. Yet I see no leadership from police leaders.

Police Leaders must accept some apportion of blame for the position we are in today for they have allowed police organisations to outgrow unnecessary functions and roles; yet the pinnacle of British Policing is the Officer and PCSO on the beat. Analysts analysing statistics and call answering times; PA’s on a power trip and civilian managers who think they are sworn senior officers. This is the monster that Labour created; police leadership has lost its way.

Leadership is a strong word; it is about how an individual leads others during difficult times. It is about values and ethics. It is about the...

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The Anti Winsor Network started spontaneously on Twitter. It wasn’t planned. It didn’t have an agenda when it started. We are not Political activists. A lot of the people involved would normally pay little attention to politics or politicians. We had real concerns about what this government Is doing to ‘our’ Police service. We are on the inside. Police officers, families, friends, civilian colleagues, partner agencies etc. We can all see how thin the blue Line already is. We can see that there is not 20% to ‘safely’ give.

There was discontent. Concern. But it was taking place in canteens. In parade rooms. We all followed our own little group of friends and colleagues from our own force. We all have the same concerns but our conversations never got further than our little group. We were fragmented. Uncoordinated. After all, it would be quite futile for my little shift to try to take on the government or get the national Fed to change direction.

This was frustrating for us all. So, one day a couple of months ago, a group of us were...

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