IT/143 Page 5
Blurred photo (above) shows Stirling students and miners
demonstrating their support for a minority. .
Royalty
cil/o suck/
STIRLING: Six thousand
people marched in Stirling
on November 21st to pro-
test at the threatened trial
of 24 students facing
disciplinary charges after the
socalled disturbances
following the visit of Her
Majesty to the University
last month.
After the original demonstra-
tion the national press, following
the expected fulminations about
the students' 'disrespect' rushed
to say that of course the 'mode-
rate majority' were ashamed of
the actions of 'a minority' and
deeply ashamed at the bad name
their university had been given.
Such rubbish got its answer
when the six thousand students,
reinforced by delegations from
universities from all over the
country, and many Scottish
Trades Unionists, marched to
protest at the attempt by
Stirling authorities to victimise
some students for organising the
original protest, which had in
fact the express approval of the
entire student body. Present on
the march, Scottish miners'
leader Willis McDougal, who said,
"We will never forget the help
that we got from every university
in the country during our own
struggle earlier this year."
BRITISH
SOIDIERJ
RAPE
SHOCK
BELFAST: How did the
British press report the
trial in Belfast of five
British soldiers accused of
the 'carnal knowledge' of
a 14 year old girl?
They didn't. There was no
mention whatever of the
trial in the home editions.
When the original arrests in
this case were made, in the
London Evening News of
21st August, which reported
a front page story with banner
headlines, that 4 Belfast school-
girls aged between 13 and 15
were pregnant after having
been raped by... you guessed
it, the Provos.
Even the Daily Express had
to deny that one, but still
could not bring itself to
mention the true facts of the
matter.
Rose Catha
That'/
Politic/
MONDAY CLUB: Fascists
and Monday Clubbers alike
reacted unfavourably to
our piece on the Monday
Club (IT/141). Those who
wonder how Harvey Proctor,
who resigned/was sacked
from his post as assistant to
the Club's director is still so
well informed on MC execu-
tive affairs may find the
answer in the fact that the
new assistant director, Adrian
Day, shares Harvey's flat over
the Conservative Party offices
in Fulham. So keen was
Harvey to find room for his
friend that he was forced to
evict his former flatmate
Bruno. That's politics.
Ronnie 6
the
taingette/
LONDON: Track Records is
preparing to package
R.D. Laing, author of The
Divided Self and Politics of
Experience. Track are putting
Ronnie on the road in the
States at four and a half
thousand bucks a night,
lecturing to college audiences.
Also planned is an album and
a video show.
cvn
CITV
HARTLEPOOL: British
soldiers on charges of drunken
driving, wife beating, etc, often
get off with probation on the
grounds that they are 'about
to go to Ireland'. Mr Evelyn
Harrison, of the Hartlepool
Lonely Hearts Club, is going
one better. He is organising
a team of girls to give the
troops a 'night of love'
before going to face (he
dreaded micks.
Rose Catha
£ci/y,
Ronald*
ca/y
CARDIFF: Detective Inspec-
tor Ronald Brown, newly
appointed chief of Cardiff
Drug Squad is doing his best
to make life miserable for
Cardiff heads. A recent
triumph involved an 18
month sentence for Clive
Maggs, busted under dubious
circumstances with all of 3VS
ounces of the dreaded sub-
stance.
"This is a vast quantity in this
field, according to my experience!'
he told the court. Discovery of
this 'vast' amount entailed,
curiously enough, two visits to
Maggs' house by the Inspector
and his dog, the Labrador having
failed to discover the small
tobacco tin containing the dope
the first time around. Was it in
fact there the first time? Can
you tell us anything about that,
Ronald? You never know,
someone might drop a weight in
your garden some time.
RIB. (Rib'sphone number is
Cardiff 44441, 58 Charles Street,
Cardiff).
fllARKED
man
" .. . the CID are operating the equivalent
of a 'go slow'. Detection rates
are down in some cases by 60% on
last year ..."
LONDON: Commissioner
Robert Mark got his job as
boss of the Metropolitan
Police because he was the
darling of the Tory Law and
Order Brigade. He was to
clean up some of the more
blatantly corrupt activities
of the force and get things
in trim for a crackdown on
subversives, altering the
rules of evidence, etc. The
boses realise that the
'crime' the police will be
called on more and more to
deal with from now on is
the 'crime' of ordinary
people demanding the right
to live a decent life. To
fight this good fight a
spanking-imaged clean-as-a-
whistle force will be needed,
to which the frightened
bourgeoisie can rally.
So Mark, most of whose
police experience has been as a
traffic policeman in Leicester,
got the top job over the more
obviously thuggish Brodie, head
of the CID. Mark arrived with
the obsession that if he could
only put good honest uniformed
coppers into the CID, all would
be well. Trouble for Mark is
that the CID hate him because
of what they regard as his
relentless hounding of them—
'A.10', the complaints depart-
ment, is now known in the CID,
particularly the Flying Squad,
as the Gestapo—and his circum-
scribing some of their accustomed
methods of making money.
That might be expected, but his
fatal error has been to assume
that the uniformed branch are
(a) less corrupt, and (b) happy
to assume CID functions. Facts
of the matter are that in many
cases the uniformed branch is
even more corrupt than the
CID—for example the porn
squad. The porn trade has
always been under the overall
direction of the police, in which
luctarive trade uniformed
officers have had their not
inconsiderable wack.
Thus the position on the Met
is that at the moment the
police, and particularly the
CID, are operating the equi-
valent of a 'go slow'. Detection
rates are down in some cases
by as much as 60% on last year.
Certainly the special mobile
commando unit set under James
Starritt, Mark's favourite under-
ling, whom he promoted to
Assistant Commissioner the
moment he became Commission-
er, is unlikely to solve anyone's
problems. The Special Patrol
Groups, who are in uniform
but cruise around in unmarked
cars (they have the letters CO
on their shoulders) are meant to
be an elite force which can
saturate an 'area' with a parti-
cular 'problem'. Local comman-
ders were asked to forward he
names of men they considered
suitable for this kind of work,
resulting in a force composed of
the more vicious misfits from
every local nick. This force,
which has been compared to the
Paras in Ulster, are already
attracting more complaints from
the public than any other
police department; nor are they
popular with their colleagues,
as they get good overtime pay,
which ordinary police do not.
There is also evidence to
suggest that the recent spate of
police "muggings" is the work
of the SPG.
Meanwhile the world is still,
waiting to see what charges will
eventually be preferred against
Chief Inspector Hales of the
Flying Squad, at present remand-
ed on £25,000 bail on charges
of possessing m re drugs in his
station locker than you ever
dreamt of getting hold of.
Totally unnoticed by the press
has been the arrest of Mr Bard,
chief clerk of solicitors
Montague Gardiner & Howard.
Bard is currently remanded on
bail of £5,000 on charges of
corruption. His firm acted for
Sands in the case last year in
which Chief Inspector Kelaher,
currently awaiting charges on
conspiracy to pervert the
course of justive, gave evidence
on Sands' behalf.
Anyone wishing to communi-
cate suggestions to Commissio-
ner Mark can ring him at
230 1212, extension 2121. Or
for that personal touch you
could drop in on him at Room
36, on the eighth floor. If you
find the stairs a bit much,
drop off at Special Branch
chief Gilbert in Room 46 on
the fifth floor. After all that,
you can drop in on the dirty
film shows on the ground floor.
Mind how you go.
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