This morning, as I sobered up after a heavy night of celebrating, following Manchester City winning the FA cup semi final against Manchester United, I was truly gobsmacked to read the latest leaflet from our local MP Matthew Offord. Mr Offord has a "Local Resident Questionairre" on his leaflet. Question 4 is the following :-
Do you support a Compulsory Sobriety Scheme to tackle drunkeness and violence?
This was the first I'd heard of such a proposal for Hendon. The only countries where I was aware that Compulsory Sobriety was enforced were those living under Sharia Law, such as Saudi Arabia. Now I think it is no secret that Mr Offord likes a tipple, so what on earth is this all about? I've seen no plans, there is nothing on his website. It seems truly bizarre that he should ask us to support a scheme, which he doesn't mention in the leaflet and he doesn't explain what the implications are.
Does Mr Offord realise that there is already a compulsory Sobriety scheme in place for offenders and lawbreakers? It's called prison. I fully support the concept of locking people up who break the law. Sadly, the Tories are cutting the number of front line Policemen to implement the scheme. I support the idea of giving offenders the opportunity to enroll in schemes to combat alcoholism, in exchange for lighter sentences. I don't support big brother state bossing citizens around against their will.
Drinking alcohol is a fundamental part of our culture. It isn't always done responsibly, but then short of implanting "behaviour regulation chips" in our brains, many things will cause bad behaviour. I suspect that plenty of violence is a direct result of arguments about sexual relationships. Is that the next area to be targetted in Offords drive for Sharia Law in Hendon? If young men were completely segregated from women, forced to only drink water and pray five times a day when the football was on, I'm sure that Hendon would be far calmer place to live. However I personally don't want to live under Sharia Law, where such measures are compulsory. I don't want to live in a country where the state micro manages our lives. I like it here, where we all misbehave from time to time. I'm quite amazed that a Tory MP should even begin to propose such a thing.
I'm quite sure that when the local Tories read this blog they will claim I've misinterpreted what Offord was trying to say. Well, if that's the case, why hasn't he laid out what his scheme entails, why he asked the question and what he wants to see. This strikes me as a crafty attempt to trick people into supporting a scheme which they would totally reject if they were asked if they wanted a "Sharia style ban on drinking alcohol"
 |
| Click on Image for more readable version |
This was the first I'd heard of such a proposal for Hendon. The only countries where I was aware that Compulsory Sobriety was enforced were those living under Sharia Law, such as Saudi Arabia. Now I think it is no secret that Mr Offord likes a tipple, so what on earth is this all about? I've seen no plans, there is nothing on his website. It seems truly bizarre that he should ask us to support a scheme, which he doesn't mention in the leaflet and he doesn't explain what the implications are.
Does Mr Offord realise that there is already a compulsory Sobriety scheme in place for offenders and lawbreakers? It's called prison. I fully support the concept of locking people up who break the law. Sadly, the Tories are cutting the number of front line Policemen to implement the scheme. I support the idea of giving offenders the opportunity to enroll in schemes to combat alcoholism, in exchange for lighter sentences. I don't support big brother state bossing citizens around against their will.
Drinking alcohol is a fundamental part of our culture. It isn't always done responsibly, but then short of implanting "behaviour regulation chips" in our brains, many things will cause bad behaviour. I suspect that plenty of violence is a direct result of arguments about sexual relationships. Is that the next area to be targetted in Offords drive for Sharia Law in Hendon? If young men were completely segregated from women, forced to only drink water and pray five times a day when the football was on, I'm sure that Hendon would be far calmer place to live. However I personally don't want to live under Sharia Law, where such measures are compulsory. I don't want to live in a country where the state micro manages our lives. I like it here, where we all misbehave from time to time. I'm quite amazed that a Tory MP should even begin to propose such a thing.
I'm quite sure that when the local Tories read this blog they will claim I've misinterpreted what Offord was trying to say. Well, if that's the case, why hasn't he laid out what his scheme entails, why he asked the question and what he wants to see. This strikes me as a crafty attempt to trick people into supporting a scheme which they would totally reject if they were asked if they wanted a "Sharia style ban on drinking alcohol"
9 comments:
When is the next election ??ab
It's a Boris initiative taken from an example in South Dakota. http://www.mpa.gov.uk/downloads/committees/mpa/110224-08-appendix01.pdf
Now look here Tinkleborne, there needs only to be one drinks policy - and that is to ensure that the sun is beyond the yardarm and that the gentlemen drink fine wine or better still good English Ale with a small VP Sherry for the ladies. Enforce this and problem solved!
Thanks for the reference, Mr R.
That initiative is perfectly credible, and people can form their own opinions about it.
What strikes me though, is how it appears, completely out of context, on Manual's leaflet!
He just seems rather inept. Is that because his experienced political advisors have been deserting him?
I trust Manuel will not be feeding back the results, or - horror of horrors - issuing a press release about his "research".
.... isn't it about time that someone attached Mr Whatisname, i'veforgotten now to lots of those ballons he is so fond of being photographed with and let him drift off into the ether......
163 vote margin and this is the crap i get.....
Aine, I'll bet you an Urneys Two and Two that Mr. Offord will be out on his ear at the next election - either the Tories will ditch him for being useless or the electorate will...
There are very generous redundancy terms (since the Daily Telegraph hasn't banged on about those, as much as duck houses and clogged-up moats).
Maybe he could open a hotel in Torquay.
"Take the bags Brian! Oh, you'll have to excuse him - he's from Totteridge."
Maybe he should worry about the purple peril that has just entered Hendonian politics !!
Post a Comment