Events | 2009.05.17
Diary: Hugh Muir
For the wheels of justice did ever turn slowly. They cost a few bob too
Following concerns aired at yesterday\'s gathering of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee about the policing of the G20 protest, might now be a good time to consider how well we have been dealing with those arrested during other demonstrations? Can\'t have the court system clogging up. Must make room for all those brought to book. One case being awaited with equal enthusiasm by both defence and prosecution concerns the former Big Brother contestant Carole Vincent, who was arrested last June following disturbances at an anti-war demonstration. After a police investigation and four hearings – two before magistrates, two at crown court – we may soon learn, on August 17, beyond any reasonable doubt whether or not Ms Vincent was responsible for the theft of a police officer\'s baton that went missing during the melee. Some weeks after the event, it was returned. The fact of Ms Vincent\'s guilt or innocence does not concern us here, but with this truncheon saga now scheduled to run for 14 months from when she was arrested, our concern is for the legal structure. More demonstrators – pro-Palestinian this time – take to the streets this very weekend. What if another truncheon or radio or notebook goes astray? Could the system cope?
What was he thinking, Douglas Hogg (aka Viscount Hailsham), as he negotiated his expenses? The list – sent to the parliamentary fees office and published by the Daily Telegraph – detailing the costs involved in maintaining his country property, included "about £2,000" for cleaning the moat, the piano tuning and repairs to his stables. He said yesterday that the expenses actually claimed "fell within both the spirit and the letter of the rules". And he is an honourable man, so we accept that. But did he, we wonder, ever think about James Burns, the 55-year-old labourer of no fixed address who was taken to court in 1964, when the honourable member was at Oxford and just 19, for stealing a penny bread bun from the honourable member\'s room at Christ Church college? According to a contemporaneous Guardian report, Hogg gave evidence in court, where he admitted that perhaps his two dozen order of buns was one short. Burns, who admitted to being a beggar but said he had never stolen, was acquitted. It is unlikely that he is still with us, for such a lifestyle does nothing for longevity, but if he were, he would see that Hogg continues to live in a very fine style. And that penny buns aren\'t the half of it.
"Like it or not, shopping is part of our cultural DNA: we can no more resist the urge to spend than we can the need to eat, clothe ourselves or tap our toes to Dancing Queen," said Times journalist Sarah Vine in January. And yesterday her husband Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, was ordered to repay the £7,000 he claimed from the taxpayer for furnishing a London property. As for her column, How Not To Spend It, we may see it again, but don\'t hold your breath.
At the outset of his Euro election launch, Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, emails to tell us about his "rapid expansion plan", as if he is the first far-right leader to have one. As we know from the History Channel, he is not. And once again he set out his stall with the backdrop of a second world war Spitfire, making light of the fact that the Spitfire chosen was actually flown by the RAF\'s 303 Squadron – made up of expatriate Poles rescued from France shortly before Nazi occupation. Indeed, it seems very likely that it was flown by Jan Zumbach, the celebrated flying ace who achieved eight confirmed kills and one probable kill during the Battle of Britain. Who knows, his descendants may be among those eastern Europeans being demonised right now as the BNP ramps up its anti-immigrant campaign in hotspots such as Burnley. It\'s a funny old world. Only sometimes it isn\'t.
And finally, Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, keen to increase the effectiveness of parliament, seeks your views for an online poll: what, he asks,"would persuade you to represent your community"? Is it a cheque? A standing order? We all have our price. Just tell him.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/12/diary-hugh-muir
