The home front

At my last-Friday-of-the-month meetings chez moi, my computer – and especially its round-the-clock Internet connection – tends to degenerate into a tragedy of the commons illustration.

And thus spake Antoine at Brian’s Friday…

…and his adoring audience rejoiced

But sometimes I come across vaguely good stuff this way. This, which found itself on my screen as things began to wind down last night, is quite good. It is a Richard Littlejohn Sunpage, and sports as its main headline the following: “You’re Salford Shi’ite and you know you are.” That’s about the British Muslim captured in Iraq, fighting against Britain.

That headline is the world crisis in one phrase. Daft Muslims do daft things, and by the time the abuse has settled, all the other Muslims have been insulted.

Next to that story was another, in a grey box on the right hand side. That looks like a Samizdata story I said. Yes it does, said someone else closer even than I to the heart of things Samizdatarian. So here it all is. It doesn’t deserve to be swallowed up in the pay-per-view maw of the Murdoch archives.

If he were a few years younger, Patrick Hamilton would be on the front line in Iraq today.

A former paratrooper, he is a Falklands veteran and served seven tours of duty in Northern Ireland.

He spent 25 years in the Army ready and willing to lay down his life for freedom and justice.

Today, he must be wondering why he bothered. When Mr Hamilton, 52, saw his 16-year-old daughter Catherine being menaced by a gang of hooligans, he rushed to her defence.

She was being threatened by a gang of teenage boys and girls who followed her back from her part time job at McDonald’s, in North Shields, Tyne and Wear.

Mr Hamilton gave chase, grabbed hold of one of the gang and tried to make a citizen’s arrest.

When police arrived, he called out: “I’ve got one, I’ve got one.”

But the police weren’t interested in nicking the troublemaker or going after the gang.

Instead, they arrested Mr Hamilton, handcuffed him and drove him away in a police car. He was held at the local police station for an hour before being released without charge.

Mr Hamilton, who now works as a college lecturer teaching youngsters who want to join the police or armed forces, was livid.

And rightly so. He said: “I can’t believe the police treated me and my family like this. It’s disgusting. I can’t believe the police protected these scum.”

I can.

The police have gone from being on the side of the law-abiding, through being neutral, to actively siding with vermin.

Mr Hamilton’s arrest is par for the course.

The Old Bill can’t be bothered to go after thugs, either because they’re frightened of getting a kicking, or because they’re scared of the Left-wing, legally-aided lawyers who infest our so-called justice system.

So they take the easy option and nick the good guys.

Tens of thousands of British servicemen and women are risking their lives in Iraq because they believe in freedom and justice.

But, on the home front, exactly what kind of “justice” can they expect?

It could be a long war.

I’ve just been watching the weekly highlights of the Johnny Vaughan TV show which is on BBC Nobody-watches-that 3. One of his guests was complaining about how depressing the Oscars show was. Said Vaughan:

“I had to switch over and watch some war coverage just to cheer myself up.”