THE BRITISH INQUISITION

The staff at Wakefield Prison have been criticised by the chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers, for wearing tie pins bearing the English flag. In a section of a report dealing with race relations, Anne Owers states:

‘We were concerned to see a number of staff wearing a flag of St George tie pin. While we were told that these had been bought in support of a cancer charity, there was clear scope for misinterpretation, and Prison Service orders made clear that unauthorised badges and pins should not be worn.’

Her report condemns race as a ‘weak area’ of prison policy and states that there are ‘discrepancies in the representation of black and minority ethnic prisoners in some key areas, such as use of force, segregation and the few available jobs’.

The comments regarding tie pins has caused something of a row. Quite why helping charities should be incompatible with prison policy is unknown. Although it is clear that Anne Owers is very keen on racial issues. This is consistent with her background.

Anne Owers was formally General Secretary of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Refugees, Chair of Trustees of the Refugee Legal Centre, was on the Church of England Race and Community Relations Committee and a director of Justice. She has also had several items published including: Providing Protection: asylum determination systems [1997] and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: their implementation in UK law [which she co-edited, 1999].

The Tory prisons spokesman has commented:

‘This sounds like political correctness gone mad. What is wrong with supporting your country and supporting a charity?’

Don Foster, the Lib Dem culture spokesman, said:

‘There is nothing wrong with being proud to be English.’

Frederick Forsyth said:

‘Who in her wildest nightmares, does Anne Owers think would be offended by this charity tie pin? And why?

There is no justification for claiming that the mere presence of the English national flag is somehow offensive. It shows she is not fit to do her job.’

One of Labour’s habits has been to steadily infiltrate their own supporters, and in particular race zealots, into as many quangos as possible. This fact needs to be born in mind. In Labour’s eyes, that she is a race zealot is a reason for giving her the job.

In addition to the history listed above, and most important of all, Anne Owers was one of the Parekh commissioners who produced the Parekh report in 2000. In which case her objection to the English flag is entirely predictable.

A full examination of the Parekh report will begin shortly.