Send Out A Message: Sack Ian Blair

It is clear now that Ian Blair is lost in a world of self-delusion and long ago lost any residual grip he had on reality. The fact that he can describe himself as a "a man of honour", presumably with a straight face, shows just how detached he is from the real world. He’s not going to resign; I’d be surprised if he knew why people were laying into him so much.

But there is another, more crucial question. Why is no-one willing to start the process of sacking him? Why is no-one being held to account of the brutal killing of an innocent man on the tube? Oh, I know that the Met has been found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety Act, but really, who does that punish? Other than the tax-payer, who ends up paying for it.

See, the organisation is guilty. The court case proves that, for anyone who needs further proof on top of the corpse lying on floor of a tube train. Yet no-one has been held to account for the killing. And this is the Metropolitan police, for fuck’s sake. Their basic job is finding the guilty person and holding them to account for their crimes. What sort of pissing message does it send out if they are not even willing to do their basic job internally?

Sure, there have been calls for Blair to resign. From the Tories and from the Lib Dems. There is even a Facebook group devoted his removal.* But no-one who actually can do anything about it is doing anything. And I cannot figure out why. What hold does Blair have over people? Does he know where the bodies are buried? (Brazil in this case.) Is he fucking someone in power, who refuses to let him fall? How is he managing to stay in power when his organisation went out and killed someone, but refuses to accept any of the blame for it?

This is the public sector, though. This is how it works. Even if your organisation kills a man, you don’t have to worry. Your job is not in danger. There is no concept of taking responsibility for your actions.

An example should be made of Ian Blair. He should be sacked. A clear message should be sent out that the buck stops with him when it comes to the Met; therefore he should be binned. But will this happen? Will it fuck.

Our government and our public sector seem to have lost sight of the fact that mistakes can, and often do, have negative outcomes. And that is one of the reasons why this country is disappearing down the toilet at a rate of knots that would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking alarming.

*That I haven’t got round to joining. For reasons that defy understanding joining "Readers of Mr Eugenides" seemed like more of a priority.