RUTHFULLY YOURS

I am very uneasy about the arrest and incarceration of Tommy Robinson. Yes, he has operated on the fringe of legality. Indeed, he carries a number of convictions which can be seized upon to paint him as a figure deserving of little sympathy, if any. On this occasion, he was in apparent breach of a probation order in relation to a previous conviction for contempt of court. Standing outside the court, he was picked up by seven police and bundledinto a paddy wagon for “breaching the peace”, a transparently ridiculous charge as is clear in the You Tube video. Before the judge, he was found guilty of breaching his probation, summarily convicted, sentenced to thirteen months imprisonment and bundled without further ado into prison.

Undoubtedly, as Janet Albrechtsen has pointed out, Robinson was guilty as charged. But here we come to the heart of our worries. The vast majority of British people still assume the law is blind and impartial. But a growing minority now sees the law as weaponised, a potent item in the Left’s arsenal with which it is waging and winning its culture war. The total media blackout imposed by the judge (lifted on appeal), left the sinister impression that Robinson was being “disappeared” with an efficiency any Argentine general from the bad old days might well have admired. The message could not have been more explicit: report on what the court did to Robinson and you will end up occupying an adjoining cell. Is there any other way to describe that ruling but as government-sanctioned intimidation.

Worse still is that Robinson is only the most conspicuous example in a pattern of abusive state power. Here is another example of unconscionable police behaviour. On his site, Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer, who has been permanently banned from entry to the United Kingdom, has posted videos from a middle-aged woman named Amy, arrested by police for alleged homophobia. The video below captures the entire case in miniature. The opening footage captures Amy politely asking police in Hyde Park why Muslims are allowed to pray when religious ceremonies and services are specifically prohibited? Subsequent footage captures police officers entering home and placing her under arrest.

Chillingly, the male officer can be heard repeatedly ordering, “Do not resist us! Do not resist us!” This in the land that gave the world Magna Carta.

Moreover, British police exhibit remarkable efficiency tracking down Facebook users who share posts critical of Islam. A man visited by police recounts:

The officers themselves were polite and reasonable enough, however their message was somewhat chilling: it was insinuated that if I continued to post material which could be considered critical of Islam or offensive to the practices of Muslims, I could potentially be arrested for ‘hate crimes.’

Equally chilling was that I have no idea how they obtained my personal information and they weren’t willing to disclose this information during their visit.

Another example: this one appearing beneath the headline “Rees-Mogg fan ‘warned by police’ for posting content that is critical of Islam”:

The owner of a Facebook page praising the Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has told their followers that they have been visited by two police officers who provided ‘advice’ that included a warning to stop posting content that is ‘critical of Islam.’

According to an update on the page called The Church Of Mogg, the page itself was frozen by Facebook for two weeks, and the owner was advised that they could face arrest for ‘hate crimes’ if any further content of that nature is posted in the future.

Perhaps one of the most worrying parts of the Facebook post is that they say they have no idea how the local police obtained his details without some sort of court order or similar legal action.

At the time of writing, this question remains unsolved.

The post states:

As you will all now all be aware, I was visited last week by two local police officers who wished to provide ‘words of advice’ regarding supposed Islamophobic content posted onto this page, which was itself locked and suspended for a fortnight.

The officers themselves were polite and reasonable enough, however their message was somewhat chilling: it was insinuated that if I continued to post material which could be considered critical of Islam or offensive to the practices of Muslims, I could potentially be arrested for ‘hate crimes.’

Equally chilling was that I have no idea how they obtained my personal information and they weren’t willing to disclose this information during their visit.

Contrast this police “efficiency” with an utter failure in the administration of law and justice. From the Mail Online of April 1, 2018:

Prosecutors told a Telford grooming victim’s father they couldn’t prosecute the alleged abuser because the 13-year-old had consented to have sex with the man, according to uncovered documents.

The letter was discovered after papers were handed over to the Home Office as part of the ongoing investigation into what may be Britain’s ‘worst ever’ child abuse scandal.

It was sent from the Crown Prosecution Service to a father in 2016, and stated the branch couldn’t prosecute the man because although the young girl may not have wanted to have sex, she agreed she would.

‘Also at the time this took place the suspect held a reasonable belief that she was over the age of 16.

‘In her statements to the police she was clear that although she may not have wanted sexual intercourse with the suspect, she agreed to do so.’

Last Monday, it was announced that the National Independent Inquiry into Child Exploitation would talk to grooming victims as part of its ‘Truth Project’.

It came about due to claims that cases were mishandled by authorities in the Shropshire town, with many perpetrators going unpunished, and reports that similar abuse was continuing in the area.

MP for Telford Lucy Allan has slammed local police and the Crown Prosecution Service in wake of the letter, saying the evidence she’s compiled from victims and their families shows ‘a failure to understand the nature of grooming’ on the officials’ parts.

Pointing to the letter, she said using the defence of consent suggests the departments don’t understand how ‘a young person of 13 or 14 does not have the capacity to consent in a situation like that.’…

Notice a pattern here? Whilst critics of Islam risk being arrested and charged, authorities are happy — nay, eager — to overlook expressions of hate and intolerance by preachers of jihad.

Without the impartial administration of law and justice, the United Kingdom puts at risk an essential foundation of any free society. In doing so it has done more than risk a gradual slide into a quasi-totalitarianism — it has actually removed the chocks and encouraged that descent to gather pace. Yes, I am very worried about Tommy Robinson’s arrest and imprisonment. So should you.