Recently in John Reid Category

The BBC reports that something called the (UKHTC) has been opened in Sheffield.

All well and good, but what about the secretive Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), who refuse to speak directly with the public (no public telephone number or email address, even for "tip offs" from the public !), which is supposed to have "human trafficking" as its number two priority after drug smuggling ? The UKHTC also has a contact number for the press and media, but not for the general public !

The Fact Sheet (.pdf) for the press and media mentions "2 senior SOCA officers" working at this new multi-agency unit, but what can they do, except liase with their 4,000 or so colleagues vack in SOCA ?

It is still very unclear what exactly the relationship and demarcation lines between this new UKHTC unit, SOCA, the investigators from the Gangmasters Licencing Authority, the Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate ("not fit for purpose") and the dozens of regional Police forces and non-governmental organisations like the Poppy Project are.

Is this just another layer of bureaucracy ?

Who exactly do you contact, in confidence, if you suspect that someone is being exploited illegally ?

Where is the telephone hotline or email address etc. ?

What guarantee is there that any action will be taken whatsoever ?

What is clear is that NuLabour politicians are still really only paying lip service to addressing the issues of modern day slavery in the UK:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown rarely makes public speeches or writes newspaper articles or gives interviews where his non-financial policies are actually revealed.

Most of the UK political blogosphere has been distracted by the plethora of surrogate Brown / Blair commentry by proxy, and seems to have missed Friday's page 2 article in The Sun

This article is accompanied by an article "I'll be tough on terror" by George Pascoe-Watson the Political Editor of the Sun, whose front pahge story about the alleged Tony Blair 31st May / July 26th resignation dates, kicked off the current round of speculation.

Gordon Brown's spin doctors appear to be harking back to his dubious speech on terrorism, terrorist finanace, identity cards etc. given to the Royal United Services Institute back on February 13th 2006. This was billed at the time as the first of a series of major speeches, outside of the normal brief of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and presumably intended to give, at public expense, the impression that he is Prime Minister material.

Chancellor writes for The Sun September 08, 2006

The Sun is claiming that Tony Blair plans to resign as leader of the Labour party on 31st May 2007,

There is then meant to be an 8 week leadership contest.

Tony Blair is supposed to resign as Prime Minister on 26th July 2007.

This will mean that he will have "achieved" over 10 years in office as Prime Minister.

Is this the end of NuLabour ?

Why should Gordon Brown become Prime Minister by default ?

We see Gordon Brown as even more of a control freak and micromanager than Tony Blair. He shares the blame for the "New Labour" regime.

We will of course be following the NuLabour leadership campaigning with interest.

Even though Gordon Brown is thought of as the leading candidate, there are even worse possibilities e.g. John Reid

We will also be watching the Special Advisors and the other NuLabour apparatchiki to see what they try to sneak through whilst their patronage lasts. Some of them, of course will try to ooze theiir way into positions of influence in the new , hoepfully temporary, NuLabour regime.

When will Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, Secretary of State for Transport physically go to Heathrow Airport and sort out the chaos which he has created with the stupid and obviously unplanned and unrehearsed alleged extra "security" precautions involving hand baggage ?

A third of flights from Heathrow have been cancelled on Saturday, and the same is expected on Sunday. There is no excuse for this chaos to be lasting for so many days after the inital alert on Wednesday.

Surely this scenario involving banning hand luggage and liquids had already been planned and wargamed in all the "desktop" paper exercises , like Atlantic Blue, which focussed on international terrorist incident responses ?

If not, then why not ?

Why has the Government not allocated extra staff to help check passengers, in this artifical crisis ? Where is all the supposed the Resilience and Contingency and Civil Defence Planning ?

The claims by Home Sectretary John Reid that the CRITICAL terror alert status i.e. threat of an imminent attack, was somehow justified , even after the arrest of the alleged plotters seems to be more like bureaucratic and political backside covering , than a rational risk assessment.

If the NuLabour government cannot even organise extra security measures with minimum disruption, when there has been no actual terrorist attack, then why should anyone have any confidence in them if an attack actually does happen ?

Incredibly, it now seems that flights have been allowed to take off with passengers' hold baggage on board, but without the corresponding passengers, who have been held up by the "security" bureaucracy.

In other words, there is now no need for terrorists to be suicide bombers at all ! The travelling public have now been made more vulnerable to Lockerbie PAN AM flight 103 disaster type bombs in the hold luggage !

Today's Observer story which alleges not just NuLabour sleaze but actual corruption in the Home Office,

Cash for asylum scandal hits Reid

Blow to Home Secretary as police investigate widespread racket claims

Mark Townsend and Jamie Doward
Sunday June 4, 2006
The Observer

Police are investigating dozens of allegations relating to a large-scale 'cash-for-asylum' racket among Home Office immigration officials, The Observer can reveal.

Scotland Yard officers seconded to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's security and anti-corruption unit have revealed they are holding inquiries into a series of claims that government officials are accepting a 'going rate' of up to £4,000 in return for residency status.

In the first indication of the extent of possible criminality among Home Office immigration staff, one Metropolitan Police officer described levels of corruption among elements of IND staff as 'endemic'. The allegations come two weeks after The Observer revealed the case of a senior IND official who was offering asylum to a Zimbabwean teenager in return for sexual favours.

Officers are currently conducting around 50 'live investigations' relating to corruption allegations involving Home Office staff, a proportion of which involve asylum applicants buying residency status to remain in Britain. So far this year alone, six IND staff have been dismissed for giving applicants 'leave to remain' status in the UK without being able to justify their decision to investigating officers.

Other recent cases include an Eritrean man who was working for the Home Office as a contractor but was convicted after police discovered he had bought a fake passport from 'a man in a pub'. Another government employee stole several thousand pounds worth of support tokens designated for asylum seekers. 'We're firing people left right and centre,' said an officer seconded to the IND unit, which is dedicated to eradicating corruption within the immigration system.

[...]

This story surely must cast further doubts on the competence of Tony McNulty, who was, incedibly, moved sideways to Policing, Security and Public Order, but not fired, as a Minister of State when he was in charge of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Sky News are reporting that Home Secretary John Reid has re-shuffled his Ministers of State:

Tony McNulty and Liam Byrne swap roles as Minsisters of State at the Home Office:

It is now Liam Byrne who is nominally in charge of the National Idenity Register / ID Card scheme, as Minister of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality.

Tony McNulty, who, for some unaccountable reason survived Blair's re-shuffle, despite the appalling performance of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, which he was directly in charge of, now becomes Minister of State for Policing, Security and Community Safety.

What is going on at the Home Office ?

John Reid seems to be the new Home Secretary.

How many Cabinet posts has he had now, none of which he has shown any talent for ?

He is yet another authoritarian left winger, who was in the past,, a card carrying member of the Communist party, during the Cold War.