Blunkett vows to curb gun crime (yet again!)

David Blunkett has promised tough action to tackle gun crime in the wake of the murder of jeweller Marion Bates.

The home secretary used his keynote speech to the last day of the Labour conference in Bournemouth to pay tribute to Mrs Bates.

She was gunned down during a robbery at her Nottinghamshire shop on Tuesday while trying to protect her daughter.

Mr Blunkett pledged support to the police in the battle against gun crime saying: "My heart goes out to her family.

"I want the experience of the Metropolitan Police in London with Operation Trident - dealing with gang warfare, guns and drugs - to be spread across the country.

Earlier he insisted that plans to speed up the removal of failed asylum seekers did not mean the government was made up of "horrible, evil people".

The home secretary said he wanted a "balanced approach" to asylum seekers, saying a UN scheme to admit genuine refugees would be implemented from next month.

During his speech earlier this week, Tony Blair pledged to tackle "judicial interference" in the process removing failed asylum seekers from the UK.

Mr Blunkett said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Why are we doing this? We are not doing this because we are horrible evil people.

"I wouldn't be offering a record number of work permits for people who come here and work and reside legally.

"I want a balanced approach and the reason I want it is because that's the only way we'll get people to warmly welcome those coming into the country.

"We will reduce fear, insecurity and fear of difference and that way we can see off the BNP."

On identity cards Mr Blunkett said there were still on-going discussions within the cabinet.

He said colleagues were raising "perfectly legitimate questions" relating to cost, practicality and civil liberties, and those issues still had to be worked through by a cabinet committee before coming back before senior ministers.

If I can convince people that the technology, the civil liberties, the financial elements are all in place I hope we can get agreement."

On policing, the home secretary told delegates there were now 136,386 officers in England and Wales - up 4,118 since last December.

Recruitment has outpaced the home secretary's target of 130,000 police officers by March 2003 and 132,500 by 2004.

But the number of black and Asian recruits is not increasing as fast as the overall figure.

Those figures did not mean the job was done though, according to Marion Bates' daughter Naomi, who told a press conference that ministers should "put their money where their mouth is" over gun crime.

Mrs Bates' other daughter Xanthe said that in the past "there was a bobby on this street. He would come in and have a cup of tea with us" - but now they hardly saw an officer from week to week.

Naomi said her mother had said she had no longer felt safe going out in Nottingham at night, but "I don't think she expected to be murdered in her own shop".

Mrs Bates leapt in front of her daughter as one of the two young criminals aimed a handgun at the 34-year-old and demanded gems from the family shop. Mrs Bates's husband of 42 years, who is 64, suffered head injuries in the struggle.

Mr Bates said of his wife: "She was a brave woman, not at all foolhardy. She was protecting her daughter, like every mother."

As the attackers ran off an Asian van driver parked close to the jewellery shop ran into the road in an attempt to stop them, and a pedestrian later tried to pull one of the attackers to the ground as they drove past him.

Marion Bates' daughter Naomi, who told a press conference that ministers should "put their money where their mouth is" over gun crime.

Xanthe added: "A policeman is a deterrent. That deterrent has gone."

The thrust of this article seems to be that not only does Britain need the toughest gun laws of any democracy, but it also needs a policeman on every corner and identity cards. Now doesn't that remind you of a certain abusive dictatorship which fell on its arse in 1991? The way Labour are going Britain won't be recognisable by the time the next general election comes around. Curse them.

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She was gunned down during a robbery at her Nottinghamshire shop on Tuesday while trying to protect her daughter.

Well, that's indeed a pity, but just think. If she'd been successful in protecting her daughter, she'd probably be in jail and getting sued by the bad guy for using self-defense.

This is [formerly Great] Britain, after all.

"But the number of black and Asian recruits is not increasing as fast as the overall figure. "

With a philosophy like this, it is understandable why there are law enforcement probs in GB.

After all the feel good AA programs to recruit 'diverse' police, the goal is not reached.

OK. ON TO US CONCERNS:

OK. Seems to me that the priority should be that the willing and ambitious recruits are trained well and perform admirably. But no. This is not even mentioned. It comes down to a quota game. As usual, quotas are not about equality, they are about SUPERIORITY.

This is the problem with quotas. Even if a good faith effort is made to reach the quota, proponents still cry injustice. This quota system assumes that white officers cannot objectively do their job because they are white. I reject that idea on its face.

In an indirect way, it is implied that just because the force has not complied 100% with the quota, it must be deficient. This is false.

Also, I have never even seen a situation where those obsessed with quotas PRAISE law enforcement that is diverse. It is always...MORE MORE MORE.

I live in NJ. 5 years ago, some of my PD friends came to office to ask if I could help them recruit minority officers. There was big $$$ funding paying these guys to work overtime in pushing diversity. What an expense. These same friends told me that the force was already inclusive, and this was just something they had to do...and they did not mind the overtime. All in all it was all done for appearances...

Also, my friends on the city PD, who grew up in a diverse community (with me) are sick of being told what to think, how to act, and above all..threatened with punishment for acting in a way in line with their beliefs.

I always find that "abolish capitalism, smash the state" picture a humorous display of the total idiocy and ignorance of liberal anarchists. Completely unfettered capitalism is precisely what will occur after you "smash the state" (and I don't neccessarily disagree with their contention that the state needs to be smashed.)

They are largely correct on the evils of the state but profoundly mistaken on their understanding of human nature.

In some of my classes we get into discussions about anarchy. Most of the students start out supporting it because it sounds cool, but they generally change their views on it after they come to the realization that in a state of anarchy, not only would they get to do whatever they want, everyone else would too.

Which means the happy banner people here would be fair game for a gang of nationalist thugs to simply trounce and leave in a bleeding pile. Anarchy is nothing more than a vacuum, which sucks in whatever form of social order can be imposed by whoever can make it stick (refer to some African states for handy examples). SOMEONE imposes some form of government, even if it's at the local (gang) level.

Back to thread topic -- the British sheeple deserve what they've gotten. I don't have the numbers, but I'd wager the majority of the MPs who voted in their insanity are still there, doling out government handouts and lining their own pockets (David Copperfield has nothing on a career politician when it comes to getting people to look one way while the important stuff is going on somewhere else).

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