And it wasn’t long before they rubbed up against the effort to combat institutional racism

And it wasn’t long before they rubbed up against the effort to combat institutional racism. Chief officers have a responsibility to ensure their staff do not behave like PC Robert Pulling, the officer who resigned from the police service on Wednesday with four fellow officers after the broadcast of their racist views. And if officers behave in a racist manner, the chief constable must take responsibility.When the Human Rights Act came into effect in 2000, Greater Manchester Police ensured their policies complied with it A team of officers was assigned the responsibility. But from the outset it seemed that little had changed.
It was the same kind of training, delivered in the same kind of way. Policies were expressly spelt out; racism, sexism, homophobia were all forbidden. And they were all reinforced by the threat of dismissal for breaking the rules The rationale for this policy appears reasonable People are defined by the language they use. And for police officers, a sensitive and respectful use of language is particularly important.

With the power to take away the liberty of fellow citizens comes the responsibility to act without fear or favour.Some officers say the police service reflects society They say a racist society explains a racist police service. But the reality is that chief constables have a legal duty placed upon them by the Race Relations Amendment Act to weed out the racists. I joined Greater Manchester Police in 1988 and spent six years working in the Moss Side and Longsight areas of the city. When I began working on The Secret Policeman – the BBC documentary that last week exposed racist trainee officers in the Manchester force – I didn’t really know what I expected to find almost 10 years on. Initial thoughts include Bernard Manning, Paul Burrell, Uri Geller, Chris Eubank, Davina McCall, Liza Minnelli and her soon-to-be-former husband, Michael Winner (“Hello, dear, I’ve come for the foot pump”), any Conservative MP, the ghastly fellow with the floppy sleeves and the smug woman who does the furniture adverts.So there; nothing that can’t be solved by boldness and imagination. Next week: the Anglican schism, cold fusion and the reconstruction of Iraq Sorry? The Northern Line? Don’t be ridiculous.. And that ghastly fellow with the floppy sleeves, and the smug woman who does the furniture adverts.

Have you, like me, ever wondered what it’s like to be a neighbour when all that business is going on, and afterwards, seeing as Diarmuid seems always to install floodlights and an outside PA system? Enough, finish.9 Leylandii A delicate one. Some of you are not quite as keen on this rugged and energetic frontier pine as I am. One possible compromise: they all have to be chopped down and taken inside at Christmas and covered with little lights and things; and then new ones can be planted every New Year’s Day.10 Borrowing and lending Tricky, too, as it can bring neighbours together. The embarrassment and resentment come from the delay in return. Our solution is to have an independent third party who will ask for it back, drawn from another panel. Would you want to use a lawnmower if the Government provided every lawnmower with a complimentary sheep?6. Well, it’s either that or some compulsory decking from the TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh and the Ground Force team.7.

Actually, now I remember, Alan Titchmarsh and the Ground Force team are also banned on account of the noise from putting in all that decking.8 And Diarmuid Gavin. It would take a bold commentator to propose a reform of attitudes and to issue some practical and helpful proposals for instituting a higher standard of neighbourliness, but so be it: The Neighbours’ Charter, 2003:1 A complete ban on laughing clown puppets.2 A Whitney Houston recordings amnesty.3. But don’t make any sudden movements”; “We’re just having a few people round for a barbecue”; “Whitney Houston’s coming She’s a personal friend and we’re hoping she might sing.”5. The following phrases, employed in neighbourly exchanges, are also banned on the grounds that repetition over a period of years will eventually drive the recipient into a snarling frenzy of hatred and might well lead to the appearance of a laughing clown puppet: “Warm enough for you?”; “How’s tricks?”; “Mustn’t grumble”; “Lovely weather for ducks”; “Ah, well, got to go and earn a crust”; “How’s the world’s worker, then?”; “We’re going away this weekend – could you feed the cat?”; “Crispin’s oboe playing is really coming on, isn’t it? I hope it’s not disturbing you too much, but we’re hoping for a scholarship.” “Well, we wish Crispin had stuck to the oboe, but you’ve got to admit his drumming’s really coming on.”; “Tyson! Tyson! Don’t worry, he’s just being friendly. Weekly meeting to work out mutually agreed playlists, disputes to be arbitrated by a panel consisting of John Peel, Herb Alpert and Sir Simon Rattle.4. But the belief that the Englishman’s home is his castle was always going to have its obverse effects. Nevertheless, it is not my way, nor is it the way of this newspaper, simply to accept the status quo.

Reprehensible, of course, but probably better than the more popular but less inspired choice of weapon of torture, Whitney Houston and “I Will Always Love You”.
The British are not alone in having bad neighbours, of course. The French, with a rich tradition of poison-pen letters, have their claims. Another row stretching back across the years, this one distinguished by the first recorded use of a laughing clown puppet dangling from a window with its cackles amplified by hi-fi speakers. At least there would then be a debate about the future direction of the party. The biggest danger for the Tories is that they hold another contest and find in a few months’ time that virtually nothing has changed.. Neighbours, I see, are in the news again. If they are intent on going through the anguish of a fifth leadership contest since the fall of Margaret Thatcher they must try to persuade another figure from the centre or left of the party to stand.