Tag Archives: theresa may

Police tsar poll branded “a comedy of errors” over poor turnout

4:41pm Thu November 15th

The Electoral Reform Society has lambasted the government’s handling of the Police & Crime Commissioner elections as a “comedy of errors“, predicting a record low turnout of 18.5%.

The ERS said:

“This election has been a comedy of errors from start to finish. Polling stations are standing empty because voters knew next to nothing about the role, let alone the candidates they were expected to pick from.”

Meanwhile, anecdotes on Twitter suggest an appallingly low turnout, which will damage the PCC role before it has even been won.

Twitter’s verdict on PCC turnout »

How Theresa May tried to hide police cuts before Police Commissioner vote

1:04pm Thu November 15th

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Changes in police numbers statistics mask local officer cuts.
Government ‘ceased collecting’ figures in London.
Parliamentary questions left unanswered before PCC vote.

As voters head to the polling stations to elect Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, Theresa May’s department seems to be using official statistics to hide the scale of police cuts.

With some 15,000 police officers to go by 2015, details of local police officer numbers are of prime importance — but for more than a year the Home Office has failed to publish them. Formerly, statistics were published by police forces as well as smaller areas called Basic Command Units (BCUs).

BCU statistics were published on a yearly basis, and indeed were published in March 2010 and March 2011. But strangely, when it comes to March 2012 those figures figures weren’t published. Following this up, Labour MP Jim Cunningham asked about the lack of BCU figures for the Met, and was told:

“Figures at London borough level ceased to be collected from 2011-12.”

Additionally, parliamentary questions relating to other Police areas were shrugged off, with the Home Office saying that an answer would be provided as soon as possible — but before one appeared Parliament went into recess for, erm, the Police Commissioner elections.

What was that about lies, damn lies and statistics?

No answer from May on Jubilee stewards firm’s Olympic contracts

7:37pm Thu July 12th

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When, during an urgent statement on security company G4S’ failure to recruit enough personnel for the Olympics, the Home Secretary was confronted about the company at the heart of last month’s Jubilee stewards scandal, she would not say whether she had faith in them to fulfil their Olympic fire marshals contract.

Theresa May was challenged on Close Protection UK by Labour’s Kerry McCarthy, who asked if she thought them fit and proper for the job. Evading the question, May said only:

“There is no complacency in government. If there had been complacency in government we wouldn’t have announced the decision to actually bring the [army] contingency in.”

A strange statement, given that there is plenty of reason to doubt CPUK’s fitness for the task. In the aftermath of the Jubilee pageant fiasco, Scrapbook exposed the murky truth behind the firm and its key figures, including:

That its director Molly Prince had had five businesses “struck off”.
That she had a prior conviction for perverting the course of justice.
That a CPUK senior manager had been allegedly passed sensitive information from the police national computer.
That Prince had used trainees as personal “bodyguards” on a champagne night out.
That one of the firm’s coaches had crashed whilst on work for the Olympics, hospitalising passengers and seeing the driver — a CPUK employee — arrested.

Complacency? What complacency?

Theresa May announces investigation into Olympics security company

2:06pm Tue June 12th

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The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have launched an investigation into a company contracted to supply fire marshals for the Olympic games, Political Scrapbook can reveal. In a letter (below) to John Prescott, home secretary Theresa May said that Close Protection UK (CPUK) would be probed after unpaid workers were forced to sleep rough in central London before the Jubilee river pageant.

Prescott had argued that the revelations about the company and its owner Molly Prince appeared to show a breach by CPUK of 2.4.2(f) of the SIA Approved Contractor Status Terms and Conditions of Approval, which states a contractor can have approved status removed if it is “found no longer to meet the fit and proper person criteria applied by the SIA.”

Speaking to Political Scrapbook, Prescott said:

“I now await an urgent response from my letter to LOCOG requesting an investigation into how CPUK were appointed to a reported £850,000 fire marshalling contract for the Olympic venues and the company’s competencies to deliver it.”

“I believe the safety of spectators, staff and competitors is of the utmost importance and we need to be assured that CPUK can deliver this.”

This is further to an existing inquiry by the Prospects Group, the company responsible for running a government workfare programme in South West England, into both CPUK and the charity Tomorrow’s People which was involved in organising the jubilee workfare placements with CPUK.

But a report commissioned by the SIA into their Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) showed that it was a laughing stock within the industry. Security managers were quoted saying that the tick-box system was unenforced and “incredibly easy” to pass, with one saying: “To apply for ACS all you need to do is cut and paste from [security companies] G4S and Mitie and you’ve got it.”

The report may also offer some explanation as to why 2012 organisers went with the CPUK bid — thought to be “significantly more competitive” — when it only provides fire marshals in comparison to trained firefighters offered by competitors:

“Small companies can now go into a tendering process with a tick next to SIA licences and a tick next to ACS, which are the same ticks as [Company X]. Whereas in reality [Company X] is much better. So contracts are going to the cheapest companies.”

The gold medal for cutting corners goes to …

Read Theresa May’s letter in full »

Snooping protesters plan to copy all emails to Theresa May for a day

3:35pm Thu April 5th

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In an amusing use of social media, campaigners plan to bombard the home secretary with messages on a “National CC all your e-mails to Theresa May Day” to protest against the government’s email monitoring plans.

A page on Facebook says:

“The government wants to store all our e-mails in a huge database? OK, we’ll save them the trouble by cc-ing the Home Secretary on every e-mail we send for a whole day.”

The plans, announced at the weekend, to allow various agencies to monitor email and social media communications without a warrant, run contrary to both Conservative and Lib Dem statements in opposition and the coalition agreement, and have led to a great deal of anguished soul-searching by Nick Clegg.

Ms May could find an awful lot of boring emails coming her way.

Embattled Theresa May attempts to have a laugh (at Ken Clarke)

7:14am Thu November 17th

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The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards took place last night. Highlights from the winners include:

Campaigner of the year: Stella Creasy
Survivor of the year: Chris Huhne
Inquisitor of the year: John Whittingdale, on behalf of the Murdoch-grilling Culture Media and Sport Committee

With attendant politicos and hacks rendered more forgiving by champagne, such bashes have become the setting in which troubled politicians can have a laugh (often at themselves) — and regain some initiative in the process.

With no one in government in need of a fillip more than the home secretary, one of the “lines of the night” (outside a toilet cubicle, at least) reportedly came from Theresa May in the form of this barb at Ken Clarke:

“I lock ‘em up — you let ‘em out.”

But surely that quip should have begun “I let ‘em in …”?

Immigration row: ex-borders chief completely contradicts Theresa May

12:06pm Tue November 15th

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The ousted chief of the UK Border Force Brodie Clark is currently giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee — and is completely contradicting what Theresa May has told them:

“I introduced no additions to the Home Secretary’s trial – neither did I extend it or alter it in any way whatsoever … I did not enlarge, extend or redefine the scope in any way.”

Theresa May was apparently provided with a “two to three page update” each week on border trials. Conveniently enough, however, we won’t be finding out what she knew any time soon as it will be Damian Green who will take the heat in the Commons at 12:30pm, fielding urgent questions from Yvette Cooper.

Is he being lined up for the Beverley Hughes treatment?

May slammed immigration minister: “don’t blame it on your officials”

11:41am Wed November 9th

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In a 2004 exchange which is set to haunt embattled Theresa May, the present home secretary told a Labour minister to resign over an immigration scandal, saying that she was “sick and tired” of ministers blaming other people “when things go wrong”.

The minister in question was Beverley Hughes, and the issue was a scandal over immigrants, erm, being admitted into the UK without background checks! Confronting Hughes on BBC Question Time, May told the minister:

“I do think Beverley should resign as minister on this particular issue and I find it absolutely extraordinary that she’s… blamed officials in her department for this decision to be taken”

The home secretary, who is currently blaming everyone else for a poor grasp on her portfolio, continued:

“I’m sick and tired of government ministers in this Labour government who simply blame other people when things go wrong.”

In a simply uncanny occurence of political deja vu, a number of immigrants were admitted to the UK without background checks in 2004. At the time, Hughes blamed officials in Sheffield for the backlog of applications which led to the blunder. That issue was highlighted by a civil service whistle blower who leaked the waiving of checks.

Beverley Huhges resigned 21 days later.

Time for Theresa May to take her own advice.

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