Batteries Not Included

So what is happening now? Can anyone shed some light on why, a 65 year old Englishman accused of supplying batteries to Iran, was taken shackled on board a US flight to a prison in Texas; that well known hell hole for law and order of Troy Davis fame? 

For those of us who came many years before from other countries, the British justice system was one of the finest in the world. In the place where we had been born there was none of the decency, humanity and above all justice that England, in all its green and pleasant beauty, could offer. So why is this being destroyed, now?

In his own words Christopher Tappin said of the accusations levelled at him:

'we believe there is no evidence. By virtue of an accusation they are allowed to extradite people from one country to another.'

Am I alone in thinking this a monstrous act? This man may of course be guilty. He may, equally, be not. He needs to be tried in a court of law. In the US he fears he will not be allowed any witnesses as the courts there do not allow people to appear on video links. He will therefore have no one. Not that witnesses will be of any use if Troy Davis's case is an example of American justice. Well, the US is a law unto itself. Let's just thank God we don't live there. But where, oh where, is David Cameron when one of his countrymen needs his help? I expect he's trying to sort out Syria. Or Africa. Or perhaps he's busy destroying the NHS. He is after all a very busy man and can't be expected to take notice of one of his stray citizens. Can he?
Although, then again he might remember that once, long ago, an Englishman wrote about justice and the quality of mercy. That man is remembered still; here and also all around the world. And this is what he said.

'Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.'*

* The Merchant Of Venice


Images created during a blindfolding of statues by the writer of this blog. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. 

Child Neglect In The Bicentenary Of Dickens

In December last year a post on the BBC website asked:

'With the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens quickly approaching, and an entire series of events planned, what is the lasting legacy of his work and his causes?'

 What indeed?

Child neglect as a result of emotional & educational impoverishment at the poorest end of British society remain a  fact of life. Today, we read that, due to an overworked, underfunded social services, the number of children referred into care has reached a record high.
Why is this? And why are these children being referred in the first place? Neglected children grow into dysfunctional adults. Sooner or later this will affect all of us. So why aren't the 'failing' parents being helped more? We all know that a child's best place is beside its mother. And that a child who is loved, however imperfectly, is all the better for it. Why then is there no money to be found for this shadowy side of society? And why, may one ask, do we seem to have gone back 200 years to the time of Dickens?

When the current Prime Minister first came into power we heard about his love for his family, his late son, his concern for the smallest, the most vulnerable in Britain. Where is that concern now but forgotten in his lip-tightening climb up his personal privileged ladder of fame.

There are children in Britain today who live in the most appalling conditions. Everyone has heard about Baby P. and his soft, curly-haired gaze, now long removed from this world. Everyone knew, once it was too late. And, while we are dished out the platitudes about the recession, while the rich give themselves reward upon unbelievable reward, the poor of course do what they have always done. Get poorer.

Here is a photograph I found on a flea market stall a few weeks ago. It was taken in the 1960s. Look, here is a child, marked by neglect, sitting on a filthy hearth. He or she has the same innocent look of  Baby P. An English child, born in this sceptred, green and pleasant isle. A baby, really. Dickens might have written about him 200 years before. If he were here today, Dickens might still be writing about him because he remains amongst us, still. 

With all the advertising hype of his approaching bicentenary, should we not be addressing some of the human issues Dickens once cared about?  Hasn't the best of literature always highlighted social injustice?