A little local difficulty?

Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Our local Police Force was supposed to have been abolished by now. Before Christmas the decision should have been taken on the amalgamation of Wiltshire Constabulary with other SW forces. What kept the Home Secretary? Despite policing the safest County in England, our Force didn’t conform to Clarke’s template. Then Sir Humphrey told him that in those places where they had them, such a decision might sway the voters at the local government elections. Surely not? Well, the elections have passed – and so has Charles Clarke – but his legacy remains.

Across the UK drug offences are up 21%, robberies up 6%, sex offences up 3% and violent crime up 1%. At the same time, 204 foreign prisoners convicted of drug offences, 207 on drug offences and 39 on sex offences were all let out of prison without consideration of deportation – even if it had been ordered by the Judge. It also turns out that there could be 1500 more foreigners in our prisons than was first thought, made up of 892 people in prison with no nationality recorded and 600 who falsely claimed to be British. Will the tough new Home Secretary still expect you to believe he has the technology to introduce National Identity Cards – a snip at £14 billion!

The PM’s Health Secretary insulted our nurses and sacked thousands. Margaret Beckett, late of DEFRA, caused very serious hardship to scores of families in our farming community. The Government ‘reformed’ the farm payment system to make it simple and predictable. A whole year ago the farmers had to hand in their paperwork. They should have agreed the figures and had their ‘single farm payment’ by March. Then it was June. Now there are rumblings about October. And another thing - this month they must hand in their applications for this year’s money – based on the figures for last year! What figures, please?

And what of the man responsible for your Council Tax? He and President Clinton may have had one thing in common – but at least Clinton was discrete, intelligent and attractive.

We are now ruled by the most destructive Government in my lifetime. It is not just about destroying our institutions and our freedoms – it is about stealing power from Parliament and the people and back-handing it to Whitehall and its unaccountable agencies. At the heart of this rapacious government do we find benign, respected, inspired and confident leadership? And, is there attractive, appealing, forward-looking, unifying national leadership-in-waiting next door in No.11? I don’t think

Shoot to kill?
Meanwhile, thousands of HM Forces are serving in harm’s way and in our name in hot-spots far from home. They are subject to military law. Many constituents have, like me, been distressed to think they may be constrained from defending themselves and their comrades because they are watched like hawks for breaches of the human rights of their attackers. After three months working in Parliament on the new legislation to unify the military law of all three of HM Forces, I’d like to reassure you.

Our forces have never been allowed to fire indiscriminately and without justification. They live by the Rules of Engagement which are based upon the English Common Law, British Statute Law, the First Protocol to the Geneva Convention and the International Law of Armed Conflict.

Over the years there has been much loose talk about the Army’s ‘Yellow Card’. It is, in fact, Card Alpha and it enshrines a soldier’s right to self-defence. If they stick to Card Alpha, the MoD will always support him on duty. Whenever you see an armed British serviceman or woman on duty, you can be confident that they will live - maybe die – by the rules that are drilled and trained into them and which make them the most professional forces in the world. It is all about using no more force than is necessary, using firearms as a last resort and only to protect human life, only firing aimed shots, no more rounds than are necessary and taking precautions to hit only the target. This is not the stuff Hollywood is made of – nor reciprocated by most of the ‘militias’ or ‘insurgents’ facing our courageous men and women. Believe you me, the Army knows what it is doing. The Rules of Engagement have stood the test of time and they are right.

Sensible, sustainable, traditional.
The former MoD Depot at Dean Hill has, at last, been sold. This spectacularly beautiful countryside straddling the Wiltshire/Hampshire border, incorporating over a mile of England’s second-biggest yew forest, a wonderful chalk downland SSSI and a unique set of deep storage tunnels dug in 1938, served by its own narrow-gauge railway system, has played an historic role in World War II, in the Cold War and in both Gulf Wars.

Recently I spent a morning with the new owner. I am hugely relieved – and very supportive because I think he is the right man on the right track. He has farmed in Wiltshire for years and he has form in running former MoD sites. He wants to use the existing brick buildings for light industry and local jobs, the tunnels for long-term secure storage and he wants to reintroduce some traditional farming activity. He does not want housing development and nothing big that would generate unacceptable road traffic. That is what he has told me and I believe him. So, I hear, does West Dean Parish Council. But neither of us will make the decisions. Over in Hampshire a vicious little campaign has started against these proposals. . Such is life in a democracy. We must trust our District Councillors, advised by their planning officials, to make the right choice.

Robert Key MP
May 8th 2006