Restoration 10:10

Britain’s Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman has packed her bags and left home. Why? Is it because she’s fallen out with her husband? No, she hasn’t. Is it because she can’t pay her Council Tax? No it’s not. Is it because she’s been evicted for not paying the mortgage? No. Harriet left home because two fathers for justice campaigners have climbed up on the roof of her house to make a protest. The two costumed men are demanding that divorced fathers be given better access to their children. Isn’t it amazing, the F4J organisation is so resourceful they can get access everywhere? In 2006 they got into the House of Commons and pelted Tony Blair with condoms full of purple flower. On other occasions they have scaled a crane at Tower Bridge, visited the Queen’s Balcony at Buckingham Palace and climbed the roof of Saint Paul’s Cathedral. F4J makes a mockery of our national security. They will cunningly find a way in to any place. However, divorced fathers don’t seem to be able to get appropriate access to their own loved ones. Perhaps it’s because the fathers wear tights and look stupid? But more than likely it’s because there has been a family break down. The fathers are hurting. Their partners are hurting. Their kids are hurting. I think Harriet Harman missed this point when she commented on the F4J protest taking place on her roof. "I don't think it is fair to the police resources to be tied up outside my house because of this demonstration when they could be doing other important policing work,”. She failed to acknowledge the serious role of fatherhood and address the problem of divorce in a compassionate way. She could only focus on the importance of police resources. Ah, but when it came to the police pay rise there was a betrayal. The police do a great job. But according to the government they were not special enough to earn their 2.5% pay rise. The Bobby’s pay was effectively reduced to 1.9%. That’s how important policing work is to this present government.

Early one morning just as the sun was rising…. in the town of Bolton UK . An angry looking police officer wielded a big sledgehammer. He hurled it at the front door window of a house. The glass shattered instantly and a hole appeared. Within seconds seven burly riot clad policemen piled into the premises. ‘POLICE’ they shouted. The drug dealers had no means of escaping justice. But unfortunately the dawn police raid was carried out on the wrong house. The officers had accidentally targeted the home of an innocent woman in her 50’s.  A statement from Greater Manchester Police read: "As part of an ongoing operation to target drug-related crime in Bolton , officers entered the wrong house. GMP has apologised to the occupant and will ensure that the damage to the property is repaired. Officers will be reviewing what went wrong in order to make sure this doesn't happen again”.  I don’t think the raid highlights a catalogue of police abuse. Neither does it fall into the area of wrongly targeting civilians, especially as other related raids were successful. Police arrested 21 people, seized cash, two cars, an imitation firearm and a quantity of drugs. Nevertheless it sure was a ham-fisted operation. But who of us is there that’s not been clumsy at some point? We might ourselves have waded in wrongly accusing folks of stuff.  So and so, said this.  Thingy bob did that. But all the time they were innocent.