Tuesday, October 26, 1999

TRUANCY

BY THE GRACE OF THE ALL MIGHTY

TRUANCY

The focus on a recent Kilroy TV programme was on the family and community problem of truancy. This is a serious problem and, as usual, the programme failed to come up with an answer and although Robert Kilroy showed passion in trying to seek an answer it followed the winding path that led to nowhere.

The Kilroy programme is not alone in failing to find an answer. Government committees, new powers for the police, new legislation to impose fines on parents of truants, endless TV programmes, newspapers articles, solutions advocated by parents and schoolteachers have all failed to combat this extremely damaging long term blight on any youngster that plays truant.

Let me make the position crystal clear to youngsters and their parent's, education is the supreme gift. For the generations of today, and tomorrow it is the passport to a wonderland of enjoyment and prosperity.

In my time at school you were very fortunate if you mastered the three 'R's because there was no family welfare assistance and every opportunity that presented itself to make a little money to help to feed and clothe the family had to be taken. If this meant time off from school then it was unavoidable. Today it is very different.

I propose to talk direct to any youngster who is reading this and who thinks it is clever to play truant: I'm sorry but you are in the muggins clan. You may think that it's smart to fool around while the other kids are working in the classroom but you will pay the price for this in years to come. There are glaring examples on our streets for all to see where people with poor education are forced into a life without quality. In the future it will be even worse.

The welfare benefit system in its present form cannot be maintained. It is like communism an ideal in theory but a loser in practice. In years to come people will have to rely more upon themselves and that is not a bad thing. The left wing philosophy was to brainwash people into relying upon the State. By people relying on the State the bureaucrats were able to control them. To a lesser degree and in a different form the Establishment also practices this psychology.

Education is knowledge. Knowledge creates wisdom and when you are in the company of a wise man it is remarkably uplifting and a great experience.

Fools are losers. Which member of the muggins clan was, or is, successful. The answer is none. If you fail to get your priority right and lose out on gaining an education you are a loser. No one has respect for loser's only sympathy or contempt. Would you support a sportsman or team that were habitual losers? I wouldn't and I don't think you would.

There may be a genuine reason why you have played truant (you see truancy is a game kid's play - investing in your future is for real and has to be taken very, very seriously). For instance you may be victim of bullying. I know a great deal about bullies because I was only small, about 5'5'' and a prime target for the bully. I learnt very quickly that you have to stand up to a bully and I did so in the only way I knew how - I gave him worse than he wanted to give me.

Now we are all made differently. Perhaps, you don't want to, or can't, respond in the way I did and I bet I could not match you academic ability or the alternative things you are good at it. So use your head. Don't give in. Get the help of a superior force. First explain to your parents your problem. If their advice is not, in your view, satisfactory then politely tell them you would like to go to your teacher and explain what is happening. If the teacher shows little, or no interest, thank him for his time and then knock on the door of the headmaster and, again politely, explain to him your problem. If that doesn't work pick up the telephone book and look up the telephone number of the surgery of your local Member of Parliament and make an appointment to see him. On your appointment explain to the M.P. your frustration and problem. If he doesn't do anything send me an e-mail and I'll do my best for you but you first must go through the procedure I have outlined.

Now I would like to respectfully address parents: The first people with responsibility for children are the parents. If the school problems of a child of yours are too much then you too must seek help and could accompany your child in seeing the above mentioned people.

In my view teachers are not paid to be surrogate parents. They are trained to teach and it is a valuable profession to society.

I shall now speak directly to teachers. It is probably correct that most teachers are parents therefore the commonsense question is, what do teacher parents do to combat bullying or any other problem their own children may have at school? If that which they do solves the problem why isn't it applied to other children?

Government's of blue and red persuasion have spent large amounts of money on many schemes for schools and some were a waste of time and money, and never had a hope of proving beneficial. Therefore, I am going to suggest a scheme that I believe may give the answer that is desperately needed.

The Government should consider the setting-up in each school a Parents Association.

A parent wishing to be a Panel member should put his or her name forward. The association should invite parents to elect candidates to form a panel to run the association for a given term of office. The conditions of office for each Panel member should be clearly defined and any member in breach of a condition should appear before a select committee of his peers and suitable adjudged.

Elections should be held at regular intervals of time and if a child of a parent on the Panel leaves the school the parent should automatically offer to resign which may, or may not, be accepted.

The elected parents will be the link between the teachers, the parents and the students. All complaints and directives relating to the school must first go through the Panel. If any parents are not satisfied with the manner in which the Panel has dealt with the matter then they should have the right to a meeting with the Headmaster of the school to put their case direct.

It may also be necessary to have an area office where reports from the Panel of each school send regular reports and a fully trained area consultant should be available for each Panel to seek advice.

Regular meetings should be held and invitations sent to parents to attend these meetings. A parent who does not attend should be asked for an explanation and this should be recorded.

The project will only be successful if the Panel is chosen wisely and the elected members are caring and have other essential qualities. The Panel members should have a basic requirement of commonsense and be given training similar in style, but of a different nature, to Justices' of the Peace.

To ensure the elected panel members are of the right calibre it should be financially rewarding for the panel members and not a charitable grace and favour part time hobby. However, it does not necessarily mean that position should be full time. Funding should also be made available to cover the cost of accommodation, preferably in the precincts of the school, and facilities for the Panel to carry out its functions.

The Panel should be advised, and perhaps involved, in all decisions that effect the success of the students and the school. There should be open access to the Panel, on private and confidential terms, for teachers, parents and students.

Details of unruly students and truants should be passed onto the Parents Association. The Panel should then ask the teacher, the parents and the student to a meeting and discuss the problem. When the association members have considered all the facts they should decide how the problem is best resolved and advise the three parties of their adjudication.

School uniforms should be mandatory. This will eliminate embarrassment for those whose parents cannot afford the expensive trainers, etc., and peer pressure on any student. Slovenly dress should not be tolerated and, where necessary, strictly confidential financial assistance should be given to any parent that cannot afford the cost of a school uniform for their child.

Young would-be job seekers must be aware that pride in appearance is essential if the purpose is to make a good impression and it is better that students grow up makigt this practice routine.

Non-performing teachers should also be asked to explain to the Panel their lack of achievement.

The scheme may not work every time but at least there will not be a regular breakdown of communication without the culprit being identified and no parent will be able to complain of ignorance with regard to any problems that their child is experiencing at school if a Panel carries out its brief correctly.

This is only a broad outline of the project. However, even in the broad outline it is clear that the main responsibility will be on the parents. It is their children that make-up the attendance roster for the school and it is only right that they, or their representatives, are involved in the manner in which the school and children behave and perform.

The children are our future; we must not let them down.

BY THE GRACE OF THE ALL MIGHTY

The denial of citizenship to Mohammad Al Fayed the owner of Harrods, Punch magazine and Fulham Football Club becomes sillier and sillier.

Every right thinking person in this country is aware that our small Island is grossly overcrowded and the predisposition of immigrants to have large families only serves to compound the increase in the population.

So acute is the problem that many, many immigrants who have become British citizens are outspoken in support of ending immigration. And they are right.

Is it any wonder that prices and rents of residential properties are at an all time high when so many are chasing so few, and where is it all going to end?

However, the decision by a High Court Judge that the Home Office is lawfully right to conclude that Mr. Mohammad Al Fayed is unworthy of being a citizen of this country is ludicrous. If this decision makes the law an ass what does it make of the two-legged donkeys responsible for the implementation of such a law?

There have been reams of newspaper pages explaining the Establishment reasons as to why Mr. Al Fayed has been denied the right to have a British passport because the media has repeatedly told us. The so-called official reasons given out are nothing more than speculation because Mr. Al Fayed has not been charged with any offence and as he has not committed any offence to all intents and purposes he is a person of good character. As a person of good character with his own visible means of support, assets to create employment and who has already lived in this country for many years, there is no valid reason to refuse his application for citizenship.

It has to be said that unless the High Court Judge and Mr. Jack Straw know more than they are telling us then they are fools and an embarrassment to the citizens of this country and the world at large.

Probably we can all name individuals, or groups, that have been given British citizenship and which defy understanding. I remember an interview on TV interview of an immigrant who had come to these shores from Bangladesh and was given citizenship. This worthy fellow citizen and resident of Tower Hamlets in London had been here 26 years and could not speak a sentence of conversation English. The comments of this 'valuable asset' to the community were made known by the use of subtitles.

Mr. Al Fayed never arrived at Heathrow Airport with only a begging bowl and an English vocabulary limited to 'Social Services', but instead has invested millions of pounds in this country, gives work to thousands, pays enormous amount in taxes, is extremely charitable and saved Fulham Football Club. If the rest means nothing the fact that he has saved a football club automatically qualifies him for a red carpet welcome to citizenship.

The Harrods owner may have a chequered career but is it any worse than that of Lord Archer who could be the first Mayor of London. As far as I am aware, Mr. Al Fayed may have given bribes but he has not accepted any, at least not in brown envelopes or arranged to have hush money passed over on a London railway station. Surely, the real sin is taking a bribe, not the giving.

How many bribes were given by employers to get strikers back to work when the loony left ruled? Were Prime Ministers Lloyd George and Disraeli paragons of virtue? Was the relationship between Prime Minister Harold Wilson and multi millionaire Lord Kagan. the maker of the Gannex raincoat, purely platonic in financial terms? Was the infamous Honours List of PM Wilson an error of judgement or were there other considerations that pleased dear Harold's bank manager?

I appeared with Lord Archer on a TV programme and he was very reticent about shaking hands with me on TV. Strange, as a retired villain perhaps I was the one that should have been wary of shaking hands if the stories circulating about Lord Archer are true. But then I have a rule of treating people as I find them and ignore reputations.

All over the world good people mourned when the angel with human frailties, Lady Diana died in a car crash in Paris. Mr. Mohammad Al Fayed not only deeply shared in this mourning but his sorrow was devastatingly doubled because he also lost a son and heir in the terrible crash.

Therefore, is it any wonder that he is anxious to find out the truth? What right does anyone have to deny him this right and his entitlement to query and examine every piece of evidence that suggests it was an accident. He is surely allowed to have his beliefs, which are based on the evidence revealed in the investigation that he has instigated. Is he not entitled to spend his money in seeking the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and what would you do if you were in his position? If in his quest for the truth he may make an emotional public outburst that may not be fully factual does it mean that he should stay silent? Of course it doesn't.

Despite the attempt by the Establishment, with the connivance of the media, to brainwash us into believing that Lady Diana and Dodi Fayed died an accidental death and that the driver of their Mercedes car caused the crash. I don't believe them and every person whose opinion I respect on such matters, shares my view.

I will keep this view until the following questions are satisfactorily answered:

1) Why have none of the paparazzi cashed in on his version of the accident and written about it? They were eyewitnesses and know more than most about the accident. Their sole reason for being there was to make money so why aren't they selling their story and why are the newspapers not running true to form and dangling mouth-watering cheques before them to entice them to tell their stories?

2) Why has the arcane white Fiat car never been found?

3) Where is the explanation for the flash of light that could have temporarily blinded the driver of the Mercedes in the tunnel?

4) Why was there an unnatural accumulation of carbon monoxide in the blood of the car driver - and only in the blood of the driver?

5) If the allegations that the driver was a drunkard how come he was a senior valued and trusted employee of the Al Fayed family and if the blood tests on the driver are correct how come no one realised he was incapable of driving?

6) Why does the media persist in saying the driver was drunk when we have seen on TV CCTV footage of him just prior to driving the car, which shows that he was not drunk?

7) Why has there been no trace of the mysterious motorbike?

8) Why did Earl Spencer make an emotional but outspoken speech at the funeral of his sister Lady Diana but has been virtually silent since that time?

9) Almost immediately after the fatal Paris crash there appeared a newspaper report that said that some weeks before the crash the Mercedes car, in which Lady Diana and Dodi were travelling in at the time of the crash, had been stolen and then found. The report then went on to say that there is now a device available that can be fitted to a car and by remote control cause the car to crash.

If this report is true then experts on this subject should advise us whether such a device is available.

There are other unexplained events surrounding the fatal crash that require to be answered and until they are answered the jury is out.

In the name of the British people the authorities have to stop this monstrous denial of justice and give British citizenship to Mr. Al Fayed even if means that some riff-raff has to be denied a British passport in the next week or so.

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