Will Cronies Comply?

Diane phoned yesterday, it's likely the Guardian will run the OVO/Scottish Power story this week. It's been difficult because so many huge stories have knocked the less sensational off the page in recent weeks. It was good to have a chat with her and to hear that the coroner has made recommendations for change in the Jerome Rogers case. It must be some relief that the events leading to his death have not been ignored. The events leading to Jerome's death may not have been illegal, but they ought to be. The law must stop a vulnerable person being placed in such a position.

Yesterday we also heard more about the criminal charges against the Barclays' executives. As Marilyn and I strolled the retail delights of Bury St Edmunds she seemed convinced that they would be brought to justice, and get a prison sentence, but I am much less confident of such an outcome. It is clear that they broke the law but being capitalist cronies they will no doubt be allowed to weasel out of facing justice on the grounds that this was a victimless crime. I have already heard their deal with Qatar being justified on the grounds that it saved the taxpayer money, that they found a way out of a crisis that didn't need government support. That they kept their bonuses was just - well, a bonus! Everyone's a winner, right?

No, not right. We are all losers.

As Marilyn said, they were not complying with the law. Our laws should not be there just to punish the working classes they can only serve society if they are applied evenly to us all. As it happens Paul was once involved in a victimless crime, and he was punished, and rightly so.
Early one summer morning we were on our way to a Sunday lunch with the family, the motorway was clear of traffic, with calm dry road conditions, we had the top down on the sports car and the boy racer in him just relaxed a little. We both saw the police car parked up, waiting. But it was too late.

"It's a fair cop," he said, as he slowed onto the hard shoulder.

He was charged and lost his licence for a month. Neither of us had ever had a speeding ticket or even a parking ticket until then. It seemed harsh, but we could understand it.

We must all be compliant with the law, and take our punishment if we fail. If we aren't, and if we allow the bosses to break the rules we cannot expect those working for them to comply. Barclays has a history of senior people breaking the rules, behaving as though they are above the law. This latest example of the Barclays' culture supports my opinion that the organisation is an organisation lacking integrity. In order for the Qatar deal to have been implemented covertly would have required a significant number of employees to collude and conspire in the compliance failure. Only the journey through the courts, with vigorous cross examination will reveal all those involved, and our society needs to know. 
We all need protection from those who will not comply with our laws, and we all need our laws to be amended when they are too harsh, as in the case of Jerome Rogers. Our journalists are people keep cronies from unfettered non-compliance and who defend the vulnerable. For this reason we need to fear Rupert Murdoch and the control he can exercise over media channels, and we need to support those who expose what is wrong in our society. 
As a society we need to recognise the weak spots in our laws and our legal systems, we need to implement improvements to gain social justice for the majority. The death of Jerome Rogers did not receive the relentless coverage that many of those who died in more sensational circumstances receive, but the loss and the pain for his family is the same. In fact it's probably much worse.Those innocents blown apart by an unprovoked attack were enjoying life until the moment they passed into death, and there was never any opportunity for their family members to influence the outcome. Jerome's family live with the knowledge that the British legal system allowed a young man, their son to be frightened and harried to his death. They know that the weeks prior to his death were not carefree and joyful, he was worried sick, isolated and had lost all hope.  At times they might wonder if they could have done more.
I doubt they could, but we can.