Boris Johnson started International Women's Week by claiming he's a feminist !

by Andy Wastling

(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang [1] by Andrew Wastling

THREE days after International Women's Day and the night before Mothers Day his police are directed to brutally attack peaceful female protestors. Johnson's actions seem to be totally out of step with his alleged aspirations or intentions?

This week parliament will vote on Priti Patel's new policing law, effectively destroying the right to protest.Our democracy ( such that it is !) is being gradually eroded as this rogue and toxic Westminster cabal drives towards an increasingly neo-fascist and authoritarian state. This is an existential struggle between the forces of progress and the sinister forces of reaction. One the British working class seem destined to lose if we do not rise from our political torpor and apathy. In Greece , Spain , Italy , Germany and France the workers have been on the streets in force for many months. Governments should be afraid of their people not the other way round.

A peaceful vigil in Manchester by the Emmeline Pankhurst statue passed entirely without incident (despite the background presence of two police vans full of overtime eager GMP officers). The women behind Right To Walk MCR had originally also hoped to hold a covid safe vigil but following conversations with Manchester City Council and GMP were told that they would also receive fines if it went ahead. Despite GMP's dicktact telling protestors that they were unable to proceed with a vigil for Sarah Everard and #ReclaimTheseStreets as well as a virtual online event .The restricted and entirely peaceful , disciplined and socially distanced vigil took place as indeed also happened in Nottingham, and Birmingham, as they did elsewhere outside of the capital with no police harassment or intimidation whatsoever.Right to Walk Manchester have published an Open Letter online demanding an : Everard's Law. From stricter punishments for harassment and catcalling, to better lighting and increased security cameras, our ambition is to create safer communities so that women are more protected. Can be signed at : Petition · An Open Letter for Everard's Law · Change.org

A demonstration has been called at 5pm, tomorrow ( 15 March ), Parliament Square , London And no doubt further national and local vigils and protests are being organised this weekend Cressida Dick, speaking about Sarah’s murder days ago, expressed her shock and said our job is to patrol the streets and to protect people. But at this vigil, her officers did the exact opposite. A petition calling for her to go can be signed below.

https://r.ippl.es/cressida-dick-resign/

APPENDIX:

(1). (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang was written by Heaven 17 members Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory and included on their 1981 debut album Penthouse and Pavement. It was the first single released by the band. In the lyrics fascism and racism are described in an ironic fashion, using the lexicon of funk music.

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Manchester Chief Constable quits as force is put into special measures for 'outstandingly bad' results

Labour Mayor Andy Burnham says 'SORRY' promises to improve!

LAST THURSDAY the Greater Manchester Police force (GMP) was placed into an "advanced phase" of monitoring, after inspectors found it had failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year.

Yesterday, the Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, who earlier revealed he was on sick leave, said he would now step down with immediate effect.

Inspectors had said GMP's service to victims of crime was a "serious cause of concern".

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said it was left 'deeply troubled' over how cases handled by GMP were closed without proper investigation.

It said about 220 crimes a day went unrecorded in the year up to June 2020.

Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Vera Baird, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that the force's failures were "outstandingly bad".

She said crimes like stalking and coercive control were "profoundly traumatising" and victims needed "not only the support of police to get orders restraining the perpetrator and to take them to court, but they also need to be safeguarded and referred to appropriate victim's services".

She added that "none of that was happening" and vulnerable people had "simply been deserted".

In a statement, Mr Hopkins has said that these are "challenging times" for the Greater Manchester Police and he believed a chief constable should oversee the force's 'long-term strategic plan' to address the issues raised from "start to finish".

Mr Hopkins revealed on Wednesday he had been suffering from labyrinthitis - an inner-ear infection which affects balance - since the end of October.

He said "given my current ill health", he would bring his retirement, which he was due to take in autumn 2021, forward, adding that it had been "an honour to serve the public for 32 years".

Mr Hopkins has been chief constable of GMP since October 2015, leading a force of almost 7,000 officers.

"Throughout my career, I have been committed to achieving the best outcomes for the people I serve [and] the decision to stand down is not one I have taken lightly, but I feel the time is right," he said.

The Blame Game Continues!

Meanwhile, the Conservative MP for Bolton West Chris Green has urged Andy Burnham, who oversees policing in the area, to step down.

Earlier, Mr Green said Mr Burnham should 'resign now' as he has 'absolute responsibility for policing, its failures'.

'His role ultimately is to ensure that GMP is delivering. He is in a position if he doesn't think GMP is performing and is delivering then he can challenge and if necessary he can sack the chief of police,' he said.

'That is Andy Burnham's power over policing in Manchester. He has absolute authority.'

But the Labour mayor said he would not be stepping down.

Following the publication of the daming report earlier in the week, and Mr Burnham had apologised on behalf of the Greater Manchester Police.

'I would like to say sorry to all of the victims of crime who have found that the service has not been good enough. We owe it to them to improve and we will and we will do it fast,' he said.

The 'Culture of Arrogance and Cover-ups'

A former GMP detective Maggie Oliver, who resigned over the way grooming cases in Rochdale were handled by the force, has said she and two ex-colleagues had a meeting with Mr Burnham in 2018 to highlight "serious concerns" and were "treated with contempt".

She said they gave him 26 examples of victims being failed by GMP, including "people dying as a result of gross neglect" and he "basically slammed the door in our face".

There was a "culture of arrogance and cover-ups" at the force, she said, and a "radical overhaul" was needed.

Ms Oliver said victim's "trust in the police had gone" and her charity, she claimed the Maggie Oliver Foundation, was "drowning in cries for help" from people who "have nowhere else to turn".

Sir Richard Leese, Manchester City Council leader, said the watchdog's findings indicate there are "major issues" that need to be addressed.

"I think it kind of says it all that GMP so far have not put up a spokesperson to explain what the situation is, what's been going on," he added.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the mayor and deputy mayor said they were "putting in place the necessary actions to improve standards of service to victims of crime in Greater Manchester".

Mr Burnham announced that a dedicated hotline for victims who have any complaints was also being set up.

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Cyril Smith and Faisal Rana

by Les May

NOT two names you would ever expect to see together, but as I was reminded when I read the somewhat garbled story by Jennifer Williams in the Saturday edition of the Rochdale Observer, there are some remarkable similarities.

Let’s forget the speculation and recap what we actually know. Smith indecently assaulted young men at the Cambridge House hostel in the 1960s.  Had he not been guilty of this he would have sued Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP) for the article in the May 1979 edition.  Rana voted twice in the May 2018 local government election. When found out he admitted it. Two guilty men; two sets of blind eyes being turned.

What are the similarities?   For a start neither of these men ever stood in the dock and answered for their crimes, though the reasons for this appear very different. Another similarity is the way that people who could, and should, have taken non-judicial actions against these two guilty men have excused their reasons for not doing so.

David Steel who was told of these accusations against Smith by the RAP editors, David Bartlett and John Walker, has excused his inaction by saying;

‘These allegations all related to a period some years before he was even an MP and before he was even a member of the party, therefore it did not seem to me that I had any position in the matter at all. He accepted that the story was correct. Obviously I disapproved, but as far as I was concerned it was past history.’

How remarkably similar this is to the response I received when I raised the matter of Rana voting twice with the RMBC monitoring officer.  I was told that Rana’s criminal behaviour had taken place before he became a Councillor, hence no action could be taken.  Just as party leader Steel was able to avoid taking any action against Smith, these seems to have been enough to have allowed party leader Alan Brett to avoid taking action against Rana.

In fact the excuse from the monitoring officer was nonsense.  Rana’s crime was committed on polling day 3 May 2018 and his term of office runs from that day until the day before the next poll is held.  I feel justified in using the term ‘excuse’ here because when I later asked for clarification about Rana’s failure to declare his interests within the stipulated time period the officer who dealt with this during an extensive correspondence squirmed and did everything possible to avoid having to admit that Rana had failed to comply with the rules.

So why did neither of these men appear in the dock?  We know that in the case of Smith the police pursued a rigorous investigation, that the file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and that no action was taken against Smith.  No evidence has yet been produced that this was a ‘cover up’ and the most likely explanation is that even though a number of young men has made similar accusations against Smith as the law stood at the time this could not be taken as corroboration that he committed the crimes he was accused of.  This seems absurd to us now and the law has since been changed.

In the case of Rana things are much less clear. We don’t know whether the decision to allow him off the hook with only a caution was taken by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) without referring the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or whether it was a decision made by the CPS.   If the decision was made by GMP alone then it seems to me to be a significant error of judgement on someone’s part.

Voter fraud strikes at the heart of our democracy and whether it be GMP, the CPA, a council officer or a party leader no one should do anything which appears to excuse or condone it.  Smith is dead, Steel is yesterday’s man and Rana is still a councillor. Which do you think we should be most concerned about?

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2019/03/what-rap-said-about-smith-in-1979.html

*************

Rochdale Council and Institutional Racism

by Les May

I BELIEVE that Rochdale Council is tainted by institutional racism.  I rest this claim upon the fact that its members appear to base some decisions about whether to act to give some sort of leadership to the people of Rochdale upon skin colour and ethnic origin.  The evidence I have for this is the response, and in most cases, lack of response, I received when I sent an open letter to all members of Rochdale Council regarding an attack on four white tree surgeons by a gang of about twenty Asian men in the Newbold area of Rochdale.

I provide below three paragraphs of this letter.

I am writing to you not as a representative of a political party, or of a particular ward, or because you happen to have been born with skin of a particular colour, but as someone who was elected to represent the people of Rochdale.

Two weeks ago the Rochdale Observer reported that a thug who had been ‘disrespected’ in ‘his country’ organised a gang of about twenty males who were armed with weapons such as knuckledusters, claw hammers and an axe to attack four men working as tree surgeons.  One of the men had his hand hacked off in the attack. Before the attack the four men had been called ‘white bastards’.

In the name of common decency I call upon all councillors, both individually and collectively, to condemn this attack and the language which preceded it, by bringing a motion to this effect before the full Council at its next meeting.

The full letter can be read at:

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2019/11/an-open-letter-to-rochdale-councillors.html

I print below the responses that I received from individual councillors and my reply to them.  As I believe that the racism is present at an institutional level because it exists as a shared understanding, whether conscious or unconscious, amongst members of Rochdale Council that some things must never be drawn attention to, I have chosen to remove the name and anything that would identify individual Councillors.  This was impossible to do without mutilating the response in one case so I have excluded it.

Dear Mr May

Thank you for the information of which I knew nothing.  Unfortunately the next Council meeting is a short meeting with no motions due to the Freeman and Alderman meetings to follow.  I will discuss with colleagues, but if I had been asked for a comment I would condemn this attack as indeed I would any attack regardless of colour, creed or sexuality.  There is no support for any form of violence I would hope from any member of Council, and this and any attack should be condemned by all.

Dear Councillor ***,

Thank you for your response to my e-mail.

I believe that this is a matter of such importance to the promotion of harmonious relations within the town that I would like to see it debated and condemned by the full Council at a later meeting, if the next one is not appropriate.  This is the reason I have written to every councillor in every ward in the town, I believe it should be condemned by every councillor both individually and collectively.

If you or your colleagues wish to obtain further information a report which includes material taken from the court hearing can be found in the Rochdale Observer of 23 October and on the GMP website below.

https://www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-manchester/news/news/2019/october/Four-men-have-been-jailed-for-their-part-in-a-brutal-gang-attack-which-left-a-man-with-life-changing-injuries-after-being-hit-with-an-axe-in-Rochdale/

I would be grateful if you would share this with your colleagues.

Les May

Hi Les

I have no idea why you’d want me to comment on this particular incident, given I have never commented on any police investigation.  I’ve had a look through my inbox and it seems you’ve never emailed me before demanding I call out racist attacks in Rochdale.  I have no idea why this one might be different.

It seems to me that the legal system has dealt with the criminals - not being involved in the case or having any legal training, I can’t say either way whether there are any issues here.

To be honest it’s the first I’ve heard of this terrible incident, not some cover up of anti-white racism.

It’s a shocking incident.  All racism is wrong.

Do you have any potholes or grot spots in **** I can help with?

Dear Councillor ***,

Given the nature of the incident which involved an unprovoked attack by a gang of up to 20 young men armed with an axe, knuckledusters and a claw hammer on four workmen which resulted in one of those attacked having his hand chopped off, I think it is self evident why some comment is needed.   I am not aware that there has been an attack of such a nature in Rochdale before.  I am not asking you to 'call out' racism, which I note that you clearly identify this attack as being tainted with, I am asking that you use your best endeavours to have this attack debated and condemned by the council.  Twenty young men being assembled quickly and carrying weapons, coupled with the use of the term 'my country' by the leader who claimed he had been 'disrespected', suggests to me that what we have here is a case of gangsterism which may well spread into the wider community. I would like to see it halted before it does.

This attack was reported on the front page of the Rochdale Observer of Wednesday 23 October 2019, so quite a lot of people will be familiar with it.

I should add that every councillor in Rochdale has received the e-mail I sent you.   I will file your response along with theirs.

Les May

Hi les

Thank you for including me in your email.  I have and always will stand up against any form of racism and will continue to do so

Regards *** ***

Dear ***,

This is not about racism, though there are clearly racist overtones. It is essentially 'gangsterism' when someone justifies the attack by saying he has been 'disrespected' in 'his country'.  That is why I want it condemned by councillors individually and collectively. The racism will be if there is an unwillingness to condemn it because it was carried out by up to 20 young men identified as Asian.

Les May

Hi Les,

I am saddened to hear what you have alluded to in your email. ******* I am not aware of the matter you mention but will establish the facts and contact relevant officers.   I apologise that you have not had a response before now.  Please let me have a few more details abut the incident such as when, where etc it occurred. I realise you may be further upset by my asking for this but it will save me some time.  I am grateful. ***

Dear ***,

Thank you for your very positive response.

The incident occured on October 17, 2017 and came to court in October 2019.  It was reported in the Rochale Observer of 23 October but the story was very garbled and differs somewhat from what was reported on the Greater Manchester Police website. I have given the link below.

https://www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-manchester/news/news/2019/october/Four-men-have-been-jailed-for-their-part-in-a-brutal-gang-attack-which-left-a-man-with-life-changing-injuries-after-being-hit-with-an-axe-in-Rochdale/

Although there is a racial element in this attack which I think has deterred people from commenting on it, the main problem appears to be gangsterism.  If this is indeed the case it will be very detrimental to everyone in Rochdale and especially in Newbold.  I believe there was a similar, but much less serious, incident in the Greave area during the summer.   This is why I would like it condemned by individual councillors, and debated and condemned by the full Council.

Thank you again for your positive response.

Les May

I have absolutely no doubt that had this been an attack on four Asian men by a gang of some twenty white males armed with an axe, knuckledusters and a claw hammer, it would have been publicly condemned by most, and probably all, of our Councillors.  I believe that this view would be shared by many people in Rochdale. If this belief is correct then our Councillors do not represent the views of the people of Rochdale.

I can only offer four possible reasons for the unwillingness of Councillors to go on the public record and condemn this attack for what it is; gangsterism exacerbated by racial abuse.  These are: a desire to keep certain councillors ‘on side’, a desire not to alienate what is seen an individual Councillor’s ‘natural constituency’, a fear of being called ‘racist’ by others and not considering an attack in which a young man had his hand hacked off with an axe to be sufficiently serious that it has to be publicly condemned.

To Rochdale Councillors I say this: ‘Telling me in a private e-mail that you are not racist and how you have always been against it, is not good enough.   I will start to believe you actually understand what racism is when I see that you are willing to stand up and be counted by publicly condemning gangsterism and similar crimes, irrespective of who the perpetrators are’.

I stand by my belief that Rochdale Council is tainted with institutional racism.

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Trump & Greater Manchester Police

by Les May

FORGIVE me for asking, but is it just possible that Donald Trump has taken control of the GMP City Centre Twitter page?   I ask this because yesterday the Rochdale Observer had a story which ran as follows;

Police say ‘99 percent’ of beggars arrested are addicted to drugs or alcohol - including one who ‘commuted’ from Rochdale to Manchester’s Christmas Markets to ‘earn up to £50 an hour.

The story was based on 3, yes that’s three, arrests last Saturday, which hardly seems like a large enough sample to make any kind of generalisation, so where do they get figures like 99% and £50 an hour from?

I thought the times when the police ‘knowing’ someone is guilty was enough to convince a magistrate were long past, at least as far as ‘respectable’ folk like you and I are concerned.  Such courtesies it seems do not extend to people who beg.

Perhaps in the future tweets from GMP can be confined to operational matters, like warning people about pickpockets, street thieves, traffic congestion etc. Opinions are not required and disseminating them via Twitter seems to me to be an improper use of police resources.

And by the way a lot of ‘respectable’ people take drugs and drink too much. 

*********** 

Maggie Oliver's Praise for Danczuk, not Lloyd!

by Brian Bamford

THE COMIC OPERA continuing between the Danczuk Clan, Karen and Simon, and the Rochdale Labour party, ruled by Councillors Richard Farnell and Allen Brett, is becoming more entertaining by the day.

It was only two months ago that the Labour Party Council leader, Richard Farnell and Simon Danczuk, were cheerfully posing together with a snapshot of a birthday cake celebrating '50 years of the Samaritans' in Rochdale and district.  Yet now with Danczuk standing against the official Labour candidate all those happy times seem to have been forgotten, as on the 8th, May after Simon's resignation letter in which he declared:

'The Labour Party is no longer the positive political movement that I joined nearly 30 years ago.  Indeed, under its current leadership the Labour Party is more interested in serving its own ends rather than those of hard working people for whom the party was originally established.'

Only this week, Mr. Danczuk's former agent, Councillor Allen Brett has complained about the knock-about way Danczuk is conducting campaign against the chosen Labour candidate, and former pal of Danczuk, Tony Lloyd.

Earlier this week, according to ROCHDALE ONLINE, Mr. Brett claimed:
'The Danczuks have been engaged in a particularly "nasty and vindictive" campaign against Tony Lloyd since Mr Lloyd was chosen as the Labour Party candidate, much to the chagrin of Danczuk who coveted the Labour candidacy himself. '
Councillor Brett added:
'The public are getting fed up with the Danczuk's forever dragging Rochdale through the mud. The sooner we're rid of them the better.'

Unfortunately, the Rochdale Labour Party under the leadership of Mr. Farnell and Mr. Brett have had plenty of warning over the years about the wayward nature of Simon Danczuk, not to mention his former wife and mucker Karen, who always seemed away with the fairies.

But they wouldn't listen to anyone about Simon's unreliability, even their rank and file members in the Rochdale Labour Party.

Meanwhile, Simon has recently been blessed by the support of none other than the former detective constable in Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Margaret Oliver.  Oliver worked on sex abuse investigations in 2004 and 2010, and she worked on a small team assigned to Operation Augusta.
It was looking at allegations about the grooming of white girls in the northwest of England by Pakistani men in 2004.

In a tweet, which the Danczuks have now re-tweeted, see below:

Important message from Maggie Oliver, former Greater Manchester Police detective, regarding the Election in #Rochdale #threegirls

Tony Lloyd, as I recall, didn't feature in the BBC drama 'Three Girls', but wasn't it the Crown Prosecution Service (the CPS) rather than the Greater Manchester Police, who failed to process the case in 2009?

Operation Clifton Further Discredits Danczuk

by Les May

WHEN Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale's book ‘Smile for the Camera’ was published in April 2014 it was applauded by almost every reviewer.  But there was one slightly sceptical note struck by Nicholas Blincoe who reviewed the book for the Daily Telegraph.  Whilst almost everyone else seemed to accept at face value everything that Danczuk and his aide Baker had to say about Cyril Smith’s activities, Mr. Blincoe was more cautious in what he said:  
'If it emerges that Smith, who died in 2010, raped young boys at Knowl View, the failure to act earlier will seem unforgivable. But the guilt will be shared.  Everyone in Rochdale read the RAP story.  I pored over it as a 13-year-old. There was never any doubt over Smith’s guilt. So why did no one do anything?' and 'Investigations into Knowl View by the police and council have been extended to discover Smith’s role, if any, in the abuse. We will soon know if Rochdale’s sympathy for Smith was a terrible mistake.'  

‘Smith’s guilt’ here refers to the story which had appeared in the Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP) in 1979, about him carrying out fake medical examinations and spanking young men at Cambridge House Hostel in the early 1960s.  The reason ‘There was never any doubt...’ is that when the story appeared Smith huffed and puffed and blustered, but did not sue.

In the event Blincoe’s prediction of May 2014 that ‘We will soon know...’ proved to be wildly optimistic.  It has taken not one, but three, investigations to get at the truth about what Baker wrote and Danczuk put his name to.  
Essentially their credibility rests on three claims: 
1)  That Smith was protected by, amongst others, the security services, and was effectively immune from prosecution, 
2)  That Knowl View special school was a ‘sweetshop for paedophiles’ and Smith took full advantage of it,
3)  That there was a ‘cover up’ by officers of Rochdale Council about what was happening in the school. 
Now we have known since July 2015 that the first of these claims are false.  
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-33716982

This is what I wrote about this incident on the Northern Voices blog in September 2015: 
On pages 221 and 222 of his book is a typical Danczuk story about Smith.  In recounting this story he forgot the collateral damage being caused to the reputation of the Northamptonshire Police:   
'His car had been pulled over on the motorway and officers had found a box of child porn in his boot.  The police were naturally disgusted and wanted to press charges.  But then a phone call was made from London and he was released  without charge.  Senior officers had threatened the officers involved with dismissal if he was not released immediately.  The mood was tense and sullen as officers stood back while Cyril breezily walked past them to freedom.  All the staff who knew about it were threatened with the Official Secrets Act if they discussed the matter any further.  Once again Cyril walked out of the police station knowing he was a protected man.'  

A totally convincing story, but totally untrue.    

How do we know?    

Because detectives have interviewed Danczuk, two former chief constables, about 60 police staff, a journalist who has written extensively about Smith, and several members of the public.   No witness has been found who saw Smith in custody or was involved in his arrest, no reports of the alleged incident have been uncovered and no witnesses have been found from Special Branch.   A manual trawl of its archives was undertaken by Special Branch and the Crown Prosecution Service searched its archives for relevant information.   Both found nothing. 

So far as I know this is the only one of Danczuk's stories that has been subject to scrutiny.  I leave it to your imagination to figure out how much it has cost to find out the truth about it just because he and Baker could not be bothered to check it out before committing it to print. http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-humbug-of-simon-danczuk.html 

Their second claim about paedophiles at Knowl View school was demolished in September 2016 when Operation Jaguar was closed due to the absence of substantive evidence.  
This is what the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had to say: 
‘Between April 2014 and April 2015, 13 files with multiple allegations were submitted by GMP to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) relating to 27 suspects and 16 victims (I think they mean complainants), of both physical and sexual offences.  In 2016 the CPS communicated their decision on the final one of the 13 files that was still under review.  No further action will be taken in relation to this allegation.  In May 2016 a further file was submitted to the CPS and in August 2016 the CPS advised there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution.’
 
Danczuk did not like this one little bit and responded with:  
'I believe that there has been a catalogue of failings by GMP during the investigation of these crimes.   A failure to prosecute will leave child sexual abuse victims devastated that the people who changed their lives forever will not be brought to justice.  This statement from GMP announcing that they have not been able to prosecute any more abusers will, I am sure, mean that the perpetrators of these horrific and evil crimes will sleep more happily in their beds tonight.’   

In other words he ‘knows’ the people accused are guilty, and if the evidence cannot be found it is due to police failings.   http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/old-news-from-knowl-view.html

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/danczuk-having-realistic-chance-of.html

Whilst Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd did not see fit to defend the good name and professionalism of Greater Manchester Police, the local Police Federation chairman Inspector Ian Hanson, did saying:  
 '(f)rom his comments I would assume Mr Danczuk is in possession of very specific information that backs up his comments (and) if that is the case then he should refer that information to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaint's Commission) himself immediately.'   

In a Facebook post, Ian Hanson said a statement released by Mr Danczuk on Thursday was 'totally lacking in detail or substance'.   

Inspector Hanson said of Simon Danczuk: 
'.... I will publicly call him out to deliver the firm evidence that he bases his criticism of GMP on to my office by 12 noon on Monday - and I will personally deliver it to the IPCC.' http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/danczuk-given-ultimation-to-cough-up-by.html

As for their claim of a ‘cover up’ this is implied rather than made explicit.  But anyone reading page 113 of their book could not be left in any doubt of what is being suggested, especially as they refer to one council officer by name.  Certainly the media took the view that the police investigation into whether there had been a ‘cover up’ by Rochdale Council had come about because of the book. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/rochdale-mp-welcomes-knowl-view-7501342

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett from GMP, said:  
'Following the publication of MP Simon Danczuk's book 'Smile for the Camera’, GMP conducted an assessment of the allegations contained within that book. As a result of the assessment, GMP decided that a criminal investigation was required. 
'This also followed consultation with Rochdale Council and the QC conducting the independent inquiry on their behalf. The council asked Neil Garnham QC to suspend his independent review and he has agreed to do so.
'The GMP investigation will now seek to identify whether any offences have been committed in the way that previous reports of abuse were handled or allegedly covered up.' http://www.itv.com/news/granada/story/2014-07-24/investigation-into-alleged-knowl-view-abuse-cover-up/

After more than two and a half years and at a cost of nearly three quarters of a million pounds the Greater Manchester Police investigation Operation Clifton concluded that there was no ‘cover up’ of what was happening at Knowl View.  In other words Danczuk and Baker once again got it wrong.   Now at this point I must declare an interest.  In May 2015 I was interviewed at Rochdale Police Station for some two hours by two officers who were part of this operation.  I handed over copies of all the relevant documents I had amassed during my own investigation and signed statements detailing the information I had provided verbally.  At the end of the interview I was asked to express a view as to whether I believed there had been a ‘cover up’. I said no. So far as I was concerned I was very impressed by the thoroughness of the investigation.   

Danczuk sees things differently.  He has described Operation Clifton as a 'shambles' and he said: 'This must be the most bizarre and unprofessional police investigation I’ve seen in my time in public office.  The police have been effectively investigating themselves.  The way it has been handled by the police warrants investigation.'

https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/no-evidence-child-abuse-cover-school-linked-cyril-smith/

What he does not say is that the investigation was set up examine whether there had been a ‘cover up’ by Rochdale Council and that he was wrong to suggest that there had.
This is curious because in April 2014 he had dismissed the existing enquiry into claims of a ‘cover up’ set up by Rochdale Council in January 2014 as a ‘bogus review’ that lacked the necessary independence.  It was this enquiry which was superceded by Operation Clifton.  

He said at the time:  
'It's well known that Rochdale council are knee-deep in litigation over claims of historical physical and sexual abuse and their so-called independent review is nothing more than a defence of the council.  
'I don't know why they're calling it an independent review because the council commissioned it, they've set the terms of reference and the council leader is busy calling round people connected to Knowl View asking them to come and speak to him.
'There's nothing independent about it and I think it's wrong that the council should be investigating serious allegations of abuse that they had responsibility for preventing.' https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/28/cyril-smith-abuse-police-alleged-rochdale-cover-up  

Incidentally, the council leader in question was Colin Lambert who went on to deliver the Labour party a stunning victory at the next election but was then replaced by someone closer to Mr Danczuk.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/98147/former-danczuk-spin-doctor-matt-baker-accused-of-vile-attack-and-smear-campaign

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/simon-danczuk-and-rochdale-dirty-tricks.html

Operation Clifton cost almost £750,000, Operation Jaguar cost in the region of £500,000, the cost of the investigation by Northamptonshire Police is unknown but we can tentatively place it in the tens of thousands of pounds, if not more.  Taken together the sum is in the region of one and a quarter million pounds.  Even though Danczuk was the proximate factor which led to each of them, he rejects the findings of all of them. 

Allowing Danczuk to remain in a position where anyone might be inclined to take the slightest notice of his views on Cyril Smith, Knowl View and indeed the whole question of sexual abuse of children, is rapidly becoming an expensive luxury the country can ill afford.  But he won’t go until he is pushed and the people to do that pushing are the members of Rochdale Labour party or, if they still won’t do it, Rochdale’s councillors from the other parties need to kick up a fuss and not be cowed by attacks from Danczuk’s cronies.

Rochdale will never climb out of the mire so long as it has Danczuk as its MP.  Blaming the police when they don’t come up with the findings you think they should is lacking in judgement.  Doing it three times is the action of a fool.  

ROCHDALE ONLINE BREAKS STORY OF FRAUD PROBE

ACCORDING to the website ROCHDALE ONLINE the police have begun an investigation into a report of electoral fraud in Rochdale, concerning to the 2015 local elections.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson has said:
'On Tuesday 7 February 2017, police received a report of electoral fraud, which relates to the 2015 local elections in Rochdale.'

A spokesman for Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council has said: 'We are aware a complaint has been made.'

We have no idea of which ward or wards that the police are investigating, but Northern Voices was always concerned about the apparent statistical anomaly of the odd results in Central Rochdale ward, and particularly in the Milkstone and Deeplish ward seen below: 

Milkstone & Deeplish

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Mohammed Zaman	3,335	77.7	+10.5
	UKIP	Rifat Mahmood	364	8.5	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	John Swarbrick	260	6.1	+2.0
	Conservative	Keith Taylor	211	4.9	-9.0
	Green	Sarah Bibi	120	2.8	+2.8
Majority			2,971	69.2	+17.6
Turnout			4,290
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.1

ROCHDALE ONLINE & Operation Clifton

ASSISTANT Chief Constable Debbie Ford (Published on ROCHDALE ONLINE:  8/2/2017) said:  
“We launched Operation Clifton in July 2014 in response to a request by the Home Office to investigate allegations of a criminal cover up of non-recent sexual abuse at Knowl View School.
“GMP was asked to carry out this huge undertaking after a QC-led inquiry, on behalf of Rochdale Council, uncovered potential criminal offences.
“GMP undertook a two year investigation and committed a team of 15 staff led by a dedicated Senior Investigating Officer. Three independent advisory group members also oversaw the investigation to provide external scrutiny and challenge.
“Operation Clifton was a lengthy and detailed investigation which has been undertaken by dedicated staff who collated and examined a large volume of information to ensure that the right conclusions could be drawn. Having undertaken this work I can confirm that there will be no criminal charges brought under Operation Clifton.
“Furthermore the investigation concluded that there was no evidence of corruption or attempts to cover up the allegations to protect offenders or organisations’ reputation.
“I am grateful for the commitment and effort of the team involved.
“The documentation and findings of Operation Clifton have been submitted to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) who will now review them over the coming months.”