"The shooting of a young protestor"

Check out this BBC report on the shocking public shooting and resulting murder of 19 year old Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, in Myanmar, clearly by security forces belonging to the Army junta that has seized power and over thrown a democratically elected government.  

World Homelessness Week Protest (and a desperately tragic death of a child)

This evening I went with the Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz and our Council Chief Executive, Althea Loderick to Stratford Broadway to visit the scene of a dreadful murder of a 16 year old boy.

At the same time there was an action near Stratford Station by protesters to mark National  Homelessness week.

As Newham Deputy Mayor, I went to support this event and speak to the organisers of the protest to advise them of the overnight rest centre for any rough sleepers who were unable to use the Stratford Centre since the Police had closed it as a crime scene.

While I was there I met again Andrew (see picture) who is a former rough sleeper who has written a book about his experiences on the street and has also attended meetings of the Newham Homelessness Task Force and told us about his lived experiences.

Anyone with information on this awful murder of a young boy should call police on 101 quoting reference 4644/10Oct or Crimestoppers via 0800 555 111

"Murder graph shows how London killings compare to US cities" - the hypocrisy and cant of President Trump

The level of deaths from knife and gun crime in London and other major UK cities is simply unacceptable and we must do everything possible to reduce it. This of course includes reversing the 20, 000 Tory cuts in Police numbers and the 23% cut in police civilian staff.

However, hat tip to the Metro for the above chart which shows the hypocrisy and cant of recent attacks by President Trump against London Mayor, Sadiq Khan. 

US Cities murder rates are staggeringly high compared to London. Unbelievably high. New York is twice the rate of London, Washington is over 10 times as high and St Louis has a gut wrenching 64.9 murders per 100,000 citizens compared to London's 1.5.

My nephew is currently living in Chicago which is about 17 times more dangerous than living in London.

Will Trump be calling for all his US city Civic leaders to resign (followed hopefully by himself)? I will not hold my breath. 

Murder investigation launched in Manor Park

Newham Council "Sad incident in Church Street, Manor Park, on Monday evening. Man in 20s died from gun and knife wounds.

Extra police in area reassuring residents. Sympathy to those who knew victim. Call police on 101 with information about incident or any concerns. Quote CAD7566/8APR. or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz "My deepest condolences to his family today following a devastating incident last night in Manor Park, @NewhamLondon. 

Myself and the Deputy Mayor John Gray, were at the scene last night providing reassurance to local residents and those there who knew the victim".

(hat tip picture Newham Recorder).

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/09/man-dies-from-knife-and-gunshot-wounds-in-east-london

Searchlight on History repeats itself: 1942 SS - 2014 IS

This is the latest front cover of the long standing anti-fascist and anti-racist magazine "Searchlight".

I think we all know what it shows and compares. 

Tonight we heard of yet another cowardly murder of a journalist, Steven Sotloff.

Searchlight is absolutely right to compare the butchers of the Islamic state with that of the Nazi SS.

They are all the same - fascist scum and we need to stop them.

The IS are no more Muslims than the German SS concentration camp guards were Christians - they are all just fanatics and common murderers.

In Britain recently a number of respected Islamic scholars have declared IS a "heretical” and “an oppressive and tyrannical group... and religiously prohibited to support or join”. 

In view of the Nazi slaughter that happened in the lifetime of my father and mother, I don't think that those of us who are not Muslims have any cause to be complacent or smug.

Ordinary women

"Most shocking of all are the accounts of the women who killed. One of Lower's subjects, a secretary-turned-SS-mistress, had the "nasty habit", as one eyewitness put it, of killing Jewish children in the ghetto, whom she would lure with the promise of sweets before shooting them in the mouth with a pistol. Lower presents another chilling example: that of an SS officer's wife in occupied Poland who discovered a group of six Jewish children who had escaped from a death-camp transport. A mother, she took them home, fed and cared for them, then led them out into the forest and shot each one in the back of the head".

 http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2013/10/ordinary-women.html

Am I the only one to feel physically sick at this account? Not that the SS men did not shame themselves equally.

What we should do when we come across TV reports of murdering cowards?

check out this

Hunting, Shooting and Killing

I don’t know why a lone gunman murdered 12 people yesterday and shot another 11 before killing himself. In fact we may never really know for sure? Only two things are pretty certain. One - he will turn out to be some sort of bitter and twisted obsessive loner (as in Hungerford and Dunblane) and two – he had access to guns.

While I am sure that there are a lot of things that we can do better in the “community” to identify and prevent such people harming others or themselves the only sure way to reduce the number of similar incidents is to reduce the number of lethal weapons out there.

Why do we allow individuals to legally hold sniper rifles with telescopic sights capable of multiple homicides? According to the BBC here in England and Wales there are 138,728 people certificated to hold firearms and they own 435,383 weapons. (There are also 574,946 shotgun certificates which cover 1.4 million shotguns). 138 000 people – 435 000 weapons??? I used to target shoot when I was younger and I am sure that the vast overwhelming majority of folk who do shoot are decent and rational people. But with the best will and best laws in the world this is a ticking bomb and unless we have change further mass murders will just take place again, again and again. Just look what happens across the pond in the USA.

Or are we saying that this is a price worth paying for a minority of people to exercise their democratic right to enjoy their hobbies and traditions?

Today, I indulged in my own personal hobby of hill walking. Now it is conceivable that I may be able to do someone grievous bodily harm with my Brasher boots or Swiss army penknife but when hill walking I am incapable no matter how insane (discuss) of mass indiscriminate murder.

I hope the new Tory Minister for “Hunting and Shooting” (yes of course they have appointed one) Jim Paice will do what’s right and proper and just dramatically slash the number of such weapons in our society.

I won’t wait up.

Picture is from Shooting Times - its digital sample - I assume they will have the decency to take it down some time soon.

Social Worker Stabbed to Death

Yesterday, Philip Ellison, age 47 and father-of- three was murdered at a “Supported Living Facility” in Preston. A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and under the Mental Health Act.

The BBC quotes a UNISON spokesperson saying that this death was "a tragedy" and "illustrates the dangers of this type of job".

Philip’s family have released a statement saying “He was very committed to working in a job he had done for eight years and was known and loved in a variety of different communities and he will be missed by all."

My thoughts are with Philip’s family.

However, while this is obviously a “tragic incidence” and I know nothing about the particular facts of this individual case. I hope that the enquiry into the murder will examine what information was made available to Philip that day about his clients, their friends and family members? Was this information up-to-date? Did all the care agencies (not only the Council, but NHS, Police, Probation, past Housing providers etc) properly share information relating to the risks from clients? Where the risks properly evaluated? Where and suitable and sufficient control measures put in place?

In health and social housing this hasn’t always been the case.