Any new forensic evidence in Gavin Hopley's case?

Good luck to Lynne Smith, the British National Party's candidate in the Castle Ward by-election for Tamworth Council today. I've received no inside information on this contest, so will just be hoping that Lynne can keep up the 10 to 12% average vote that BNP candidates have been polling in by-elections across the country since May's local council elections.

The main story on the front page of The Guardian is that police have confirmed that they are investigating new forensic evidence surrounding the murder of London teenager Stephen Lawrence, which could lead to the re-arrest of the five main suspects in the case. All five men could be questioned again following the re-examination by independent forensic technicians of hundreds of pieces of evidence relating to the 1993 murder.

While the police must be praised for their diligence in seeking to find the murderers of Stephen Lawrence, one is left to wonder whether they are doing the same for other similar cases, such as the murder of Gavin Hopley in Oldham by a gang of Pakistanis.

The newspaper reports that sources confirm that the re-examination of the Stephen Lawrence murder had been conducted in secrecy, with few people made aware of how far it had progressed. It was also suggested that it was highly unusual for Scotland Yard to announce the imminent arrest of a suspect. Now I wonder if there's a secret re-examination of the Gavin Hopley murder using this new forensic evidence also underway. Perhaps those who are having success using the Freedom of Information Act to uncover some of the secret workings of various authorities could find out? And while you are at it, maybe you could ask how much money has been spent investigating the Stephen Lawrence case and how much has been spent on that of Gavin Hopley.

The Guardian used the usual cropped photo of Stephen Lawrence which looks lopsided and must make people wonder why it doesn't look quite right. What The Guardian is hiding from its readers by its careful cropping, as do all the other newspapers, is that Stephen Lawrence is making a Black Power salute in the photo. But why do those in the media feel it is necessary to keep this from the public? Well, in order to make every White Briton feel guilty for the murder of this unfortunate young lad and the probable racism behind it, for him to be seen giving a Black Power salute might make people question whether Stephen was quite as saintly as he is always portrayed.

On Radio 4 this morning in the Business News on the Today programme, a spokesman for BT was bragging over the company's continued profit growth. The interviewer question him about the profits coming on the back of 5,000 job losses, but the spokesman dismissed this, saying that managerial jobs were being cut in some places but recruitment was taking place for similar jobs in others. The interviewer should then have chipped in:

"Don't you mean that the 5,000 jobs are being lost here in Britain and the new recruitment is taking place in India." But he didn't, of course, which makes a nonsense of the report being on a British business news programme. They care only that BT is making a profit, not how, even if this means that British jobs have been shippped overseas. This is the trouble with many of the business programmes. Profit is God and it doesn't seem to matter whether it's achieved to the detriment of this country, our people and our economy.

That irritated me for a start but then to hear the appalling James Naughtie with his fawning introduction to a report on South Africa and the ANC just about finished me off. I could fill the rest of this posting with my view of this presenter and how he parades his political baggage in the very way he articulates the news, so I won't get started. Suffice to say, in this report a White South African explained how he was unable to get a job because of the Government's policy of affirmative action. Employers are obliged to give 55% of jobs to Black Africans, 40% to coloureds, and just 5% to Indians and Whites. Surprise, surprise there's no outcry from the equal opportunities lobby over this, they're probably just disappointed that they can't introduce similar affirmative action over here.

And finally have you seen those advertisements on television for " . . . the fantastic debut album" from someone you have never heard of, showing footage of them singing, "their sensational new single". I wonder how much one of those adverts costs? Wouldn't it be great to have one for "Truth Hurts, the fantastic new album from Colin Auty featuring the sensational new single Where's it all gone now," accompanied by film of Colin performing at the RWB!

Talking of Colin, we are delighted to have him and his guitar booked for a Sunday afternoon social and meeting next month here in Cumbria. That's a date definitely in my diary.