#AllInThisTogether? or #ThemAndUs?

Last updated on May 8th, 2023 at 11:41 am

I’ve been slowly musing over this since yesterday, and it’s not going away.

There have been those amongst who have criticised @PeterKirkham for calling the Home Secretary a ‘fuckwit’ on Twatter recently.

If that’s his view, that’s fine, we’re all entitled to our view and we’re entitled to express it (well most of us are anyway).  That nice ex Policing Minister chappie, what’s his name? oh yes, Nick Herbert, tried to score a cheap point by repeating Peter’s comment live on BBC’s Daily Politics show.  And then the press went on to call it a ‘slip’ by Herbert. Slip my ****, he knew exactly what he was doing, and made no apology for it, just tried to belittle Peter Kirkham.

Not content with that Herbert took to Twatter yesterday to try and curry favour from his local Police and PCC in getting an illegal’ rave shut down.  Now as the former Policing Minister Herbert should have known full well that closing down illegal raves is no-one’s Policing Priority.  He should have known full well that on a Sunday morning there would not have been sufficient resources available to close it down anyway thanks to Cruella de May’s draconian cuts on Policing reducing numbers by 16,000 globally, Sussex have already lost 350 of their 3,180 or 11% of their establishment, a policy that Nick Herbert is only too well aware of and no doubt approves of whole heartedly.  But that did not stop him Twatting this yesterday morning;

Nick Herbert @nickherbertmp

@DCCGilesYork @KatyBourne @Sussexpcc Can u help? MT @prbod illegal rave continuing at Devils Dyke & disturbing peace of South Downs villages

A direct request to Sussex Temporary Chief Constable and PCC for help in shutting down this rave.  Can anybody else do that?  Do we now publish SMT and PCC Twitter addresses for ordinary folk to contact rather than dial 101 or whatever the number is today?

No Nick, they can’t help. It’s not the right method for contacting the Emergency Services in a non Emergency Situation and there wouldn’t have been enough resources on duty anyway.

Do or should the political classes have privileged access to senior Police Officers and PCCs?  I did think that PCCs were not meant to interfere with operational policing, Mr Herbert presumably has a different idea.

These politicians have no idea what living and working in the real world is all about.