Ain’t it strange, Dr Dog.
December 7, 2006 by inspectorgadget
General Mike Jackson says that government targets are damaging the British Army. He is a former SAS Commander and General in several recent wars. He says that the government do not understand the nature of the ethos of the British Army.
I say - likewise the Police, Teachers and Medical professionals.
Also we hear that the Knife Amnesty and ASBO experiments are not effective. Knife crime goes back to the same levels soon after an amnesty, and more than half of the ASBO’s are breached.
The Blog critics who think we are disloyal and disgruntled can now see that we are simply ahead of the game on these topics. Why? Because we are the ones ‘on the ground’.
Why can’t we have some chief police officers with the guts that the Generals have?
I agree with Gen. Jackson’s (and your) comments. Just a shame he didn’t say them when in command - unlike Gen. Dannat recently, who certainly felt an immediate backlash - and who knows what price he may yet pay? I suppose Jackson is in the same boat as some ACPO’s - but if they all did it????????
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/03092006/323/british-military-limit-capacity-britain-s-top-soldier.html
He claims that he DID say it when command; he just didn’t say it in public - I heard this very question answered by him on Radio 4 this am.
The trouble is John Stevens did the same. He waited until he was safe with pension before speaking out against the government. It seems that whoever you are, whatever level you reach, you are still in ‘fear’ of the government. That is a sad indictment of life in Britain today. I cannot see our ACPO ’standing up’ to anything, never mind government.
Far from being disloyal, we are only saying what our ACPO should be saying. They have been where we are and they should know better than to treat us with the contempt that they do. We are becoming a politicised organisation that is supposed to be politically independant. Lets get back to that position, please. The sooner we do, the sooner we can ac`tually start to tackle crime again, and not each other.
Good old General Jacko. The man with a face like a Taliban stronghold. I particularly liked “The purpose of process isn’t to maintain process.” We should tattoo that on the forehead of every chief constable.
Sir, if you stand up in this organisation, you are labelled “Maverick,” or a “troublemaker”. I personally like the term “Troublemaker”, but can someone define the terms “Maverick” for me? Are our leaders really “Mavericks?” Or are they the “Troublemakers.” Role reversal, sir, with respect.
Re: General Jackson. Maybe its just me, but surely he should have had the balls to say this when he was still a general? Now he’s out, with pension and god knows what else, suddenly he remembers about the squaddies living in lousy conditions not only in the combat zones but at barracks here in the UK.
Shame Shame Shame.
Now General Dannatt, THATS a leader!
At least the Army seem to have leaders who have been there, done it, etc.
I wonder how many ACPO have been “coppers” and how many were simply gingernuts?
Having experienced both Military and Police service, I couldn’t believe the similarities between the two, and listening to the General yesterday just answered and confirmed my personal thoughts about governement interferance.
The Police, NHS, Military are not businesses and cannot be run like one. The sooner the Treasury (who i blame for the most-part) realise this and act upon it, the sooner the problems may start being solved.
However, i fear it will take some time, a change of leadership to someone with some guts, and (probably) a small revolution to take place.
Favourite film at the moment - V for Vendetta - it’s peculiarly real.
His speech was marvellous - he is a brilliant public speaker. Perhaps he felt emboldened by the US Military’s Top Brass knifing of Rumsfeld. We need more of that in this country.
I guess i’m coming at this from a different perspective but it looks to me like the whole country is in a mess.
i’ve just finished training as a physiotherapist, the government paid for my training. however i can’t get a job because the NHS can’t afford to employ me (though the patients need my services), the reason there are so many physiotherapists in my position is because in the year 2000 the government increased the number of student places at university they would fund - they just didn’t plan ahead, didn’t make the junior jobs available and in the following mess have made it harder for current juniors to move into senior positions.
the way i see it the govermnent have used the NHS, and the police and army, as a political pawn each time an election comes round. they make unrealistic promises about better services and lower taxes but it’s all a big lie!
This seems prevalent everywhere. I think of it as ‘the Emperor’s new clothes syndrome’. No one in middle management ever wants to be the bearer of bad news, or look like they can’t manage, so bad news about staffing, funding, everything etc just doesn’t travel upwards to the people at the top who could maybe do something about it.
That’s why blogs are so important - they let the people on the ground point out the Emperor’s clothing status, and they let everyone in the crowd hear it. Including the Emperor.
Shall we all just give up and emigrate:
Hang Him
If Gen. Jackson feels strongly enough about these issues to stand up and talk about them now, I’m certain he did what he could behind the scenes when he was in his job. We mustn’t assume that just because we weren’t aware of it, it didn’t happen - often the publicity can damage a discussion like that. There are reasons why military officers steer clear of public involvement in politics - the rules are there to stop any threat of military rule. I think he has acted appropriately in speaking out now, as a civilian.
I watched the dimbleby lecture he gave. I saw an ex Defence Minister in the audience along with senior civil servants. None of them looked particularly comfortable with what Jackson was saying. I know exactly what he is talking about. The only conclusion that any Armed Forces wants is that of success. If something is not successful, then you analyse and change it. Performance indicators mean absolutely nothing to the soldier on the ground. Whether they have the right training, right kit and their families are looked after is their only proirity. These are the same principles with any government department. PI’s and their ilk are complete and utter rubbish, they can be so twisted and end up meaningless. I hate management speak with a passion! Grrrrr!! Oh and Jackson did put this to the govt at the time, as have many other very senior officers.
Put historically, the Army and Navy have been griping (Often justifiably so) about substandard kit for centuries when the politicians cheese pare the military budget. The politicians only see the columns of figures, not the columns of men that do the work.
The problem is leadership (lack of); the current culture of ‘Management’ of all things great and small is its greatest enemy, as I’m sure you have observed.
Good leaders can get their workforce to work wonders and shit miracles and it’s a skill which is nigh on impossible to teach.
Regards
Bill
Indeed, The ethos of the military has always been one of can do. Just look at the Falklands where the brass managed to load most of the transport helicopters onto the Atlantic Conveyer which was then sunk. The men on the ground still got the job done. I know when I was in my PIs were simple. If I didn’t do my job someone would die. Not much activity analysis needed there then.
Here in the Police I believe that most coppers would have the same attitude if it weren’t for the continual interference and bean counting. I think this is where a national Police force could have real strength. If we had one force under a strong charismatic leader we could push through the demands of the days government and forge a path which led to real policing. But then I’m a romantic.
The people with power think no further than the next four years. Physios, teachers, nurses, we are all hacked off with being used for short-term personal political gain but we aren’t actually putting our lives on the line like police officers and soldiers.
As much as I respect “The Dark Lord” he had ample chances to say his piece whilst still in service, Shame he didn’t.
5 or 6 years ago, the Govt got rid of Mr Whitehouse the CC of Sussex. I have no knowledge as to whether this was justified or not, but the fact was it happened. There is a climate of fear at the top. We all know that ACPO should speak out, but they are too scared as well.
Strangely enough, the best placed person to blow the lid off the scandal would be a PC or Sgt. He/she would be insulated from the Govt. Ministers who could not get to him without going through the CC and the Chief Officers, who hopefully would be saying the same things if they only could. Back in the 1980s the Police Federation had their own MP, Eldon Griffiths (I think). Whatever happened to that?
Check out this article in the Times to see what targets are doing to policing
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2496490.html
hello, have nice day