One of the revolutions which set this country off on its spectacular rise to power was the invention of the legal concept of equity. The rigid decisions thrown out by common law could be mitigated to suit the individual merits of the case. It was a departure from a strict code of legal black-and-white. A party which had brought a successful action in bad faith could be penalised, a party which had done wrong but with good intention could be let off with a slapped wrist. A sense of fair play entered the court system.
Since the post war socialist revolution started, our system has been moving back towards a more continental style of coded law. The criminal law started to be codified, flexibility and discretion was slowly bled out. Parliament rushed to create more and more absolute offences. Instead of over-arching prohibitions such as “theft” or “assault” where the severity could be assessed by judges or a jury we have a system which tries to predict every possible permutation of wrong-doing and attach a moral judgement and legal penalty. This trend has culminated in New Labour’s creation of ridiculous criminal offences such as “obstructing workers carrying out repairs to the Docklands Light Railway”.
The same old problem that we thought we had solved in the thirteenth century has reared its ugly head in the twenty-first. Our procedures and processes are so strict and convoluted that they throw up totally irrational results. The poster boy for this malaise is Met Commander Ali Dizaei. Here is a man who everybody knew in their bones to be the wrong person for the job, and yet the system would not allow his employer to get rid of him. Here is a man who was allowed to flout the rules to his heart’s content knowing that if he was ever challenged he would cry “racism”. Here is a culture which is so process driven that it cannot yield to common sense. Dizaei will still technically be an employee of the taxpayer until the employment tribunal has its say, even though he will be in prison. Dizaei is not the cause of the problem, he is a three-dimensional shining beacon of a symptom.
Britain, thanks to the left-wing lawyers and their cheerleaders and due to the unwillingness of others to resist the change, has become a machine. Procedure and policy are paramount, outcome irrelevant. Nobody can be blamed as long as they followed the instructions. Employers cannot fire unsuitable people; individuals are not allowed to take responsibility for their decisions; you will go through this menu system before we will allow you to speak to a person.
But might there be light at the end of the tunnel? Dizaei’s situation is surely so egregious that people must sit up and ask: how was this allowed to happen? How was it that he was allowed to ponce about so inappropriately doing things which other officers would have been chucked out long-since for doing? How was it that the Black Police Association was still accusing prosecutors of racism right up to the end? How did the Met allow him to be so continuously promoted when he was clearly so unsuitable to hold even the lowliest of public offices?
Is this now the time to put the equity back into the system? Can we have a system where procedural purity is not sacrosanct when there is an obvious injustice going on? Can’t we be a bit more pragmatic? Can we escape the ridiculous machinations? I think we can. I think we should. But do we have the leaders who are prepared to risk the high-pitched uproar of the New Establishment?
“But might there be light at the end of the tunnel? Dizaei’s situation is surely so egregious that people must sit up and ask: how was this allowed to happen?”
And they’ll ask it right up until there’s another celebrity scandal to distract their attention…
People don’t really want to look at the system for too long. They might not like what they see. So, they don’t.
Yes, they’ll ask “how did this happen?”. They’ll have an internal enquiry, then they’ll create a new rule to stop it happening again. Then they’ll announce that “lessons have been learned” and that “procedures have been put in place to prevent a recurrence”.
Then we’ll wait a few years and some other stupidity will happen.
What is needed is a change in mindset. We need to stop telling these people that they are institutionally racist and start pointing out that they are institutionally stupid.
It’s all so simple, really. Our country, like most others, is governed by politicians. Politicians ARE liars. So, the truth becomes nothing more than an inconvenience. Now, if only we could find enough politicians worthy of their high office…..then things could change! Gosh, don’t hold your breath!
“Britain, thanks to the left-wing lawyers and their cheerleaders and due to the unwillingness of others to resist the change, has become a machine. Procedure and policy are paramount, outcome irrelevant.”
Exactly. It’s always been my belief that Socialists believe that human affairs can be reduced to mechanical interactions, and that these can be tweaked like a pinking engine. Short-term suggestions? Disband the Black Police Officers Association and make the police accountable to the local people particularly at the interview stage – as I believe still happens in the States.
Fantastic post.
“It’s always been my belief that Socialists believe that human affairs can be reduced to mechanical interactions, and that these can be tweaked like a pinking engine”
EXACTLY! Have we had this conversation before?..
I was talking to a jobseeker about how hopeless the Job Centre is because they are not only obsessed with protocol, there’s also the fact that a lot of employees especially lower-level employees don’t even know what protocol is anyway.
I remember that I was once on the dole & I completely agree. When I found a job it was through my own efforts, not their “help”, & I’d be amazed if their expensive schemes were in any sense efficient.
I have been thinking about some culprits.
Professionals tend not to have much discretion, especially if they work in the public sector. Well, why? Partly because of managerialism but also, I think, something else to do with the “culture” of this country.
If professionals enjoyed more discretion we can get a fairly good guess what would happen. Most would do a perfectly good job, driven by their own conscientiousness. A large minority would do a rubbish job, be it because o unreasonable demands, lackings in the training system or the fact that they are just not much good at the job.
But a few people, under such as system, would get things very badly wrong. You’d then get tabloid “newspapers” berating them & making ill thought out demands for “action” to be taken. (Well, actually, very carefully thought out in terms of selling as many copies as possible but not in policy terms).
I remember the Baby P petition because I had a second job sorting illegible mail & for some oh so obscure reason I just can’t figure out, a lot of the envelopes to the letters sent in in support of it were incoherent, 7 I did a bit of thinking about it. I thought to myself, is this really going to help anyone? Have this lot really considered what they’re doing?
When this kind of manufactured outrage is never far away, you wouldn’t really expect higher-ups to let people get on with their jobs.
Spot on. It’s collective punishment: one lawyer/social worker/copper made a terrible mistake therefore everyone must be controlled more closely by the politicians. WRONG. Hang those who are negligent or incompetent out to dry and let the rest learn from the mistakes of the past but while being allowed to get on with their work using their own intelligence. Surely that is what being a professional (as opposed to a menial) is all about?
The blame was laid squarely at Blunkett’s door this morning on the radio. The home secretary insisted the police stop their investigations into Mr Dizaei. Look how upset Jacqui smith was when Ian Blair was booted out by Boris.Yet he clearly should have gone much sooner for his misjudgments, let alone his politicking ways to gain favour with the government.
The police, and particularly the Met allowed itself to be taken over by human resources and is exactly as your post suggests, something that happens everywhere for no good reason.
As one who watched helplessly as a similar character got away with all manner of disgraceful, dishonest behaviour protected, at his own smug admission and I quote him: `by the spade up my sleeve, get it?` I feel no satisfaction at this shameful escapade’s conclusion. Relief maybe? No, not even that. For me this marks another nadir of police management. Is the only way up, or will it just continue to bump along in the rut it’s created?
(I posted this at Leviathan’s place, but my sentiments fit your post as well)
I like your note of optimism, I too feel that all is not lost and we can move towards some semblance of sanity if as you say people of sufficient stature step up.