oldcopper

The proper vetting of potential candidates for employment with the Police Service is of paramount importance for reasons which I believe are self-evident for the well-being of those already serving as well as the service in general. In recent times I am aware of candidates who WERE vetted falling far short of the standards required with disastrous results. The vetting process is far from perfect (not just in the Police Service) but if no vetting or vetting of an inferior standard of vetting is in vogue then the chances of recruiting `a wrong un' are surely much enhanced.

This is an extremely worrying issue. Everyone seeking to enter the Police Service should be properly vetted. Failure to do so will inevitably result in individuals being accepted into the Service who should never to permitted to be employed by a police force. The potential for corruption is immense and irreparable damage could be done to the Service. We would do well to look at history to avoid mistakes. JOHN REGINALD HALLIDAY CHRISTIE, the serial killer of 10 Rillington Place infamy was permitted to join the Metropolitan Police during WWII with being properly vetted and despite having a notable criminal record including prison sentences. And look what happened as a result of that.

I have little doubt that this officer's plea for offenders to think about the wider consequences of their actions will fall on deaf ears. The truth of the matter is that very few offenders give much thought about anything and continue to steamroller their way through their lives with complete and utter disdain for anyone other tyhan themselves. The paltry sentences handed out to them by the courts do little to focus their minds on the consequences of their actions and I am sorry to say this has been the case for many decades. Sadly, I see little chance of this situation altering in the future.

Given the reduction in the number of police officers and the reduction of police budgets etc. I don't think we should be too surprised by this news.

I don't envy you your job. I suspect those who criticise the staff in special schools are people who live in an airy fairy world and have never had to retrain anyone in their life.

So how else can staff in these schools control the children in question when they become violent. Restraint of some sort must be necessary to control them in certain situations for the protection of all concerned, including the child who has become violent. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, some injuries will always be inflicted.

No surprises there then. However, the SNP dominated parliament only managed to achieve this result with support from the Scottish Green Party which tends to indicate the SNP do not have things entirely their own way. I have no doubt the PM will decline to run a second referendum on Scotland leaving the UK and the SNP will continue to neglect the governance of Scotland in pursuit of the destruction of the UK.

It is no wonder that this situation has come to pass. The cost of the NHS is truly horrendous and action of this nature was almost inevitable. I expect we shall see more procedures and treatments either excluded from the NHS or the ability to access them delayed in the case of less serious conditions or illnesses. I consider the NHS the greatest peacetime achievement of the UK in my lifetime and I wish to see it continue. However, the world has changed since its inception in 1948 and we need to change the NHS to suit the situation we are now in.

I think there is a large body of opinion to the effect that this Royal Marine should never have been prosecuted in the first place. I hope he is released from custody at the earliest opportunity and trust that s fight to have has conviction quashed completely will soon be ongoing.

You appear to be resident in Scotland and if I am correct in that assertion I find it most surprising to read that you do not consider the so-called Independence question not to be divisive. I have travelled round various parts of Scotland since the Referendum and it has split communities and families in a way I have never witnessed before. So far as Scottish hatred of the rest of the UK is concerned, I have witnessed this on an almost daily basis since my schooldays (and that wasn't yesterday) and since the days leading up to the last Referendum I have seen this continue and, in many instances, increase. I concede this emanates from a minority but they are a significant and vociferous minority. To allege Scotland has had a raw deal almost makes me laugh. We are one of the most subsidised regions of the UK and if Scotland left the UK there can be no doubt we would have to experience large tax increase and/or severe reductions in public services. I also visit friends in various places in England and it is apparent to me that we are better off in many respects than many areas in that part of the UK. I voted to leave the EU and did so as a citizen of the UK. It was the UK Electorate who were asked to vote on this issue, not the citizens of only Scotland, Wales or any other part of the Uk. As you say, it was a UK- wide vote and should be respected as such. However, even if there had been no referendum on EU membership,Sturgeon and Co would have found some other reason to renege on the SNP promise of `Once in a generation.' So far as border controls are concerned I can see no reason why a `hard' border with customs and immigration posts could be avoided. England would need such a border to control the flow of immigrants from all parts of the world, including the EU, once Brexit has been fully created. And would the MOD give sensitive contracts to a foreign country (which Scotland would be) in the event of Independence? I suspect not. The English Electorate would not be pleased and I would not blame them. However, glad to see you will probably be voting `NO' in the referendum if it transpires.

It was only a matter of time before Sturgeon and her SNP cohorts decided to try for another Referendum of breaking up the UK. She is using the Brexit situation to inflame anti-UK feeling in the hope she will persuade Scottish voters to vote to leave the UK and there is always the possibility that she may prevail unless those of us who are pro-Union resist with all our might. I do not think that the negative side of Scotland leaving the UK is put strongly enough and I hope it will be made very plain that if Scotland did exit the UK then there would be a `hard border' between the 2 countries. England is Scotland's largest customer and Scottish exports to the latter country would surely suffer. Furthermore, Scotland derives great benefit from the UK Defence Industry and this includes MOD Naval contracts which provide Scottish ship yards with a significant amount of their work. The Scottish shipbuilding industry would probably collapse without these contracts are there is one currently ongoing which loioks to provide Scottish shipyards with lucrative work for many years. It has always been UK policy not to build warships and have certain MOD work done in foreign countries (for obvious reasons) and if Scotland left the UK it would, in effect, be a foreign country. Should HMG not be announcing that such contracts will be suspended until such time as the result of the proposed Referendum is known? Should the SNP not be told that leaving the UK means the end of MOD contracts for Scotland?

The judge was only trying to be helpful and provide women with good, common sense advice. In the real world where the politically correct do not venture there are a significant number of men who are sexual predators and will take advantage of any woman who makes herself vulnerable in any sort of way and in our alcohol fueled society this is arguably most frequently done by getting `wrecked' as they say in the vernacular. I dealt with several (alleged) rapes where the complainer was drunk and I have to say that (rightly or wrongly) their intoxicated condition did not enhace their credibility.

Why would he mention such issues? HMG have ridden roughshod over the UK Police Service for some years now and have adversely affected pay. pensions, terms and conditions of service and drastically reduced the establishments of police forces. The Police Service has done very little to fight back against these measures and HMG have long since smelt the sweet smell of victory over a compliant Police Service whose members continue to go the extra mile to make the system work and never fail to stock their necks out for the same reason. In addition to all that there are a great many men and women who, despite the deterioration in police conditions of service, would give their right arms to become sworn officers and are queueing up to join. HMG know it can have policing on the cheap and will continue to play on the good nature of police officers.

In the days of Keir Hardie (who founded Labour) there was perhaps a need for the Labour Party but times have changed and I suspect that the Labour Party is now largely irrelevant.

There are obviously exceptions to the rule but, in the main, drug addicts are execcising their free will when they take the recreational drug of their choice and if they harm their health or kill themselves by so doing it is entirely their own choice and fault. I know drug addiction is an illness but it is a self inflicted one and I have little or no sympathy for those who take that path. If they are not aware of what drug use can do to them then they must have been living on Planet Zog for the past 50 years. So if they want to take their drugs in specially provided places where they will not be arrested for possession of controlled substances then permit them to do so. I have no objection but I do object to the fact that it is intended that the money for the drugs in question will be provided fromn the public purse.