Tuesday 9 December 2008

”If you want to know the time way to get home, ask a policeman…”

Commuters walking home late at night should be able to call police to ask for the safest route, according to Gordon Brown.

The Prime Minister said the idea would tackle the 'last mile home syndrome' when travellers, especially women, felt most at risk.
Now, surely, unless you’ve already had a few too many, you already know the best and safest way home…?
In an interview for Glamour magazine's January edition, he said it would resemble a ' personal police service'.

'I'm really aware that these are issues for young people who rightly want to have the chance to be out late at night,' he said.

'Once you get off the bus or the Underground, how safe are you in this last mile home?'
Well, you’re pretty safe, aren’t you? Perhaps ‘young people’ should all be provided with an armed Special Branch cop for those late evenings?
There was no indication of how the phone service would be funded by already cash-strapped police forces and opposition politicians were quick to rubbish the idea.

Chris Huhne, LibDem home affairs spokesman, said: 'Surely the best way of making people feel safe on the streets is to put more police on the beat.

'This is a half-baked idea which has got as much chance of being put into practice as the ludicrous suggestion of marching offenders to cash machines.

'The police have better things to do than act as a glorified travel consultancy.'
Precisely. Where are you likely to find a policeman actually walking the beat these days late at night?
A Home Office spokesman said the scheme was 'a vision for where neighbourhood policing could go in future rather than a fully developed policy'.'

We cannot say when it is going to happen or say what the details would be,' he added.
In other words, Gordo’s making it all up and it has as much chance of happening as Karen Matthews has of winning ‘Mother of the Year’…

But more to the point, what on earth does this have to do with running the country? Doesn’t he have anything better to do?

Oh:
The interview is evidence of Downing Street's attempts to make Mr Brown connect more with female voters.
EPIC FAIL!!

7 comments:

Gregg said...

He's either very ill or he is using stuff that the rest of us would be arrested for using.

Old BE said...

How about people use their own initiative for a change? Whoops now I see the problem.

Anonymous said...

On the Fast SHow a few years back, Harry & Paul had a sketch about two Dutch cops, sitting in a car, talking about going to shee der proshtituches und maybe doing sum shupping fer dem. Gordon musht heff sheen it too! I'm with Gregg on this one. The man is a fool AND he's running the asylum.

Anonymous said...

Umm, I thought their claim was that crime was falling? Why would people have to do this in the future if crime is falling?

Surely...surely they weren't lying about falling crime? Say it ain't so, ma!

Stan said...

As Rob hints at, this "idea" of Gordon Brown's is a tacit admission that the government have failed on law and order. Basically, what they are admitting is that they have lost control of the streets so, if you want to avoid trouble, give us a call and we'll tell you where is particularly bad. I would also wonder whether someone, having been advised by the police to take a particular route only to then be assaulted/mugged/raped, would then have the right to sue the police for bad advice?

Anonymous said...

Why on earth didn't we ask him to solve the problem of these poor children staggering home late at night, sooner? Silly us!

Anonymous said...

I wonder what counts as a safe area.

Nothing to do with the manifest benefits of vibrancy and diversity of course.