The Power of Nightmares (part three)
Six months ago I blogged about plans by Cornwall's Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) to advise teachers on how to deal with potential suicide bombers (or "violent religious extremists" to use the officials' own phrase.) I wrote a follow-up post which you can read here. There was to have been a summer training camp for 31 schools, at a cost of £3,500.
It didn't happen. I am told it's not been cancelled, the summer school has not been dropped, but there is no date for when the idea might be pursued again. My request for an interview with the Cornwall Council official behind the project has been turned down.
I'm ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Devon’s Graham Smith, blogging on news, views and some fresh insights into West Country life, particularly the way government works locally and nationally.
Comment number 1.
At 25th Sep 2010, Saltashgaz wrote:The arrest of a few northerners confirmed the muslimication of Britain, the crime they committed was to burn a book and,before the ignorant start. None of them uploaded it to you tube, if you can tell me the crime they committed you are wiser than me.
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Comment number 2.
At 25th Sep 2010, P_Trembath wrote:The Clean Air act?
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Comment number 3.
At 25th Sep 2010, Graham Smith wrote:Saltashgaz - The police presentation to the SACRE back in March was not only about potentially violent "religious extremists," although much of the focus was on Nicky Reilly from Plymouth who in 2008 tried to fire-bomb a restaurant in Exeter. The presentation also covered animal rights activists and some Cornish nationalists. The human rights group Liberty has described the Home Office "Prevent Agenda" initiative as a waste of time and money.
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Comment number 4.
At 26th Sep 2010, backofanenvelope wrote:"religious extremists"
That illuminates the problem doesn't it? There is only one bunch of "religious extremists" in this country. I assume the Police and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ think we don't know who they are. Not Cornish Wesleyans anyway.
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Comment number 5.
At 27th Sep 2010, Peter Tregantle wrote:An unhappy cocktail of political correctness and 'the human rights acts' creates extremists in Britain. Graham nobody can legislate for people like Nicky Reilly but one can be sure that somewhere someone will be saying all he needed was a hug, thereon in lay the problem. The only policy we need in this country to make us safer is longer sentences.
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Comment number 6.
At 27th Sep 2010, backofanenvelope wrote:Unfortunately, the current Justice Minister has decided that because short sentences don't seem to work, he'll stop giving them. In a rational world he would first work out why they don't work and then fix the problem. Even if that meant doubling the damn things. But Mr Clarke knows what he knows, just like his hero, Edward Heath.
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Comment number 7.
At 27th Sep 2010, Andrew Jacks wrote:This sums up perfectly the problem with councils and budgets. We can imagine the councils meeting of minds arriving at a meeting to decide how to spend this money ear marked for catching bombers 40 minutes later they emerge from the meeting deciding to through them a party, next you will tell me they visited a strip club in Plymouth to work council policy
"Cornwall Council has performed a U-Turn and admitting some of its members watched a private pole dance during a visit to a strip club. The council originally denied members of the Miscellaneous Licensing Committee watched any entertainment during a recent fact-finding trip to Temptations T2 gentlemen's club on Union Street in Plymouth."
And we pay for all this and more
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Comment number 8.
At 29th Sep 2010, Peter Tregantle wrote:backofanenvelope I have learnt "Kiss" is the best approach to all of life's dilemmas. Shame our politicians fail to "keep it simple stupid - KISS", the rising crime levels, anti social behaviour and yet our politicians claim prison does not work after making prison sentences a joke, all I know is prison works on two levels, it punishes the criminal and keeps the streets clean and people would pay to fund more prisons. Which more than anything shows how bad it has got, the majority would pay more!
I can not think of another policy the public would be willing to pay more for, even the NHS people think is top heavy
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