The display of Union Jack and St George’s flags on Britain’s streets has become a “disturbing tool of division” and “intimidation”, a policing leader said yesterday – as she also said Shabana Mahmood’s asylum crackdown is “demonising communities”. The Mail has the story.
Emily Spurrell, Chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) told a national conference that the surge in St George’s and Union Jack flags being hung on lamp posts, motorway bridges and street signs across the country was “sowing fear” and “fuelling division”.
Ms Spurrell also hit out at the Home Secretary’s asylum plans, suggesting she was “demonising communities”, adding that reforms “must not come at the cost of compassion”.
In a major speech to a summit of Police Chiefs and Crime Commissioners, Ms Spurrell claimed the display of flags was part of a “disturbing” trend in rising hate-fuelled rhetoric and deliberate misinformation about immigration and asylum seekers.
“Flags are an expression of our identity and proudly fly outside our police buildings. But when they are used to provoke fear or assert dominance, they become tools of division,” she said. “That is not free expression – that is intimidation.
“These actions are sowing fear, fuelling division and leaving – our neighbours, our colleagues and our friends – feeling unsafe in their homes and afraid to walk down the street.
“These actions do not reflect the values of our country – compassion, fairness and respect are the values that bind us together…
“We’ve heard this week some of the plans the Home Secretary has to overhaul the [asylum] system.
“Change must not come at the cost of compassion.”
When asked about Shabana Mahmood’s plans, she said: “We need to deal with our borders, we need to have a system that works for our communities, but it needs to be rooted in compassion, it needs to be one that isn’t focused on demonising communities.”
Ms Spurrell pointed out that most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls were British white men, not asylum seekers.
“Let’s be clear, to couch anti-immigration rhetoric in the language of protecting women and girls is not only misleading – it is offensive,” she added.
“The threat to women and girls is a national emergency – but it is not one that has been imported. It comes from within our communities, our homes and, too often, from those who should be there to love and protect us.”
Spurrell doesn’t seem to understand the concept of some groups being disproportionately likely to commit crimes than other groups.
Worth reading in full.
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If it is true that there is a demonization of communities it is likely because the national borders have, for too long, not been properly ‘dealt with’ through a fair system that works for both the British public and those coming who are in genuine need. Compassion is rightly limited to those who are proven to deserve it.
We do not need a system that ‘that works for our communities’ because we are not best suited to be a multi-cultural society that needs to accommodate people who want to live in different and separate cultural communities. Those sort of ‘cultural communities’ are called nations and the place for such different and insular cultures are the geographical nations from which they emanate from. We should have no truck with such colonisers.
As even Blair eventually accepted: “integration is not a choice; it is a necessity”.
Presumably this is a last fling to get herself noticed and to update her CV before PCC’s get abolished and she becomes unemployed?
Another good reason for these ‘P&C Commissioners’ to be removed from service. What authority does she think she has to be the judge of why people fly their flags?
It’s the DENOMINATOR TRICK “Ms Spurrell pointed out that most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls were British white men, not asylum seekers.” The denominator does not matter to Ms Spurrell and others wishing to deflect from this issue (and many others). It happens all the time and can only be ignorace or an intent to mislead.
I guess this why the commissioners will be disbanded. They have yet to make Difference.
Gormless idiot. I bet the criminal community in Merseyside runs rings round her.
She, and her ilk, are why the country’s wrecked.
Perhaps she could concentrate on arresting Pakistani Groomers/Rapists?
This dumb person has fallen for the Muslim Home Secretary’s spurious illegal immigrant proposal – but then so has the legacy media and Reform. Her real plan is to put all the illegals on ‘work and study’ programmes and main problem is how to spell this out to the Far Left backbenchers without alerting everyone to her bullshit plans.
There are a few hotspots for flags near me and I find it uplifting and cheering to see them.
Perhaps the ‘benefit’ is greater than the ‘downside’? You’ll never know unless you approach the issue without preconceptions.
There’s been 3 attempts at raising flags here, and all three times they have been removed within days either by persons unknown or by contractors presumably working for the (Lib Dem) council
The fact that she’s a chairwoman of anything says it all
First, the good news:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/police-and-crime-commissioners-to-be-scrapped
And then, remember 1980’s Liverpool. Binmen’s strikes, “Better to break the Law than break the poor.” Council workers’ pay delivered in cash, by taxi. Ugandan affairs transacted in the Council Headquarters. Derek Hatton, Tony Mulhearn, Terry Fields MP et al. Palid, weak, ‘Socialist’ Labour have always encouraged/tolerated Entryism, back then from the determined, spine-stiffening activists of the Trotskyist far Left. Recall, Militant Tendency and Neil Kinnock’s purge of the same on his doomed path to, “prepare for power.”
“Some things never change.” These days, for example, as well as APCC Emily from the Labour and Co-operative Party, Labour embraces the energy, activism and organising skills of part non partisan Charity/part Activist Hope not Hate, including MPs Anna Turley (also Labour and Co-operative Party), Sarah (Mei Li) Owen (ex TUC) and Antonia Bance (Ex TUC). Clearly, all well rewarded, “Sisters of the Left” but, one of whom looks like she could be Emily’s twin sister.
https://order-order.com/2024/09/19/hope-not-hate-embeds-itself-into-labour-government/
Now, for a chaff from grain ‘winnowing’ of exactly what qualifies for UK Charity (VAT excused) status.
The quote that most perpetrators of violence are white men reminds me of an old Dave Allen joke “20% of all accidents are caused by drunk drivers. Therefore, 80% of accidents are caused by drivers that are sober. So you are safer driving drunk than sober”. Same level of understanding of statistics.
This is not a problem of understanding, although it’s unclear how much of the stuff she’s told to utter in public Ms Spurrell actually understands. This is a very deliberate attempt to paint a false picture by conflating unrelated facts based on superficial similarities. The statement
Couching anti-immigration rhetoric in the language of protecting women and girls is offensive, because most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls are British white men.
really means something like
Sex crimes by illegal immigrants don’t matter because there’s much more domestic abuse of their partners or daughters by [white] British men.
This would be an outright ludicrous statement if the topic was less serious which becomes obvious once the inappropriate and opaque generalization violence against women and girls is dropped.
Keep it up Emily. Just adds more votes for Reform with your traitorous nonsense.
Correct. Like her boss, 2TK, an excellent recruiting sergeant for Reform UK.
It’s about time we stopped paying these crappy people
She is yet another reason the Police & Crime Commissioners should be ABOLISHED.
She is a member of both the Labour Party and its mysterious sub-branch called The Co-operative Party, who appear to have no policy statements on immigration at all, but have joined forces with Vicious Communist “Hope Not Hate” to produce various reports and pamphlets.
The Co-operative Party’s main aim is a country “where power and wealth are shared”, which is the same Communist Subversive message of all Communist Parties worldwide:
“What’s mine is mine… What’s yours is mine also.”
Translation: “…where power & wealth are shared … among the Communist Elites, while trampling the plebs underfoot.”
Why is it always the ugly ones?
The word “communities” (in the plural) is in itself divisive – it means special interest groups. And she’s not a Police Chief, she’s a PCC – a post whose future is in doubt.
Spurrell doesn’t seem to understand the concept of some groups being disproportionately likely to commit crimes than other groups.
Groups never commit anything because they’re an abstract aggegrate which cannot act. Only people can. Further, there’s no such thing as a probability outside of some kind of random selection experiment and there’s none involved here. According to historical information, some groups had more criminals among them in the past than other groups. Specifically, when grouped by country of origin, certain immigrant groups had a higher crime rate than the non-immigrant population.
Nevertheless, there’s something seriously wrong with Spurrells statements.
Ms Spurrell pointed out that most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls were British white men.
“The threat to women and girls […] comes […] too often, from those who should be there to love and protect us.”
This strongly suggests that her category violence against women and girls includes domestic abuse. That’s inappropriate in the context of illegal immigration because – by definition – illegal immigrants cannot commit domestic abuse and that’s not the kind of behaviour people fear them for. They’re afraid of attacks by strangers in public.
Further, if it’s not ok to talk about… Read more »
sack her
She’d just be replaced by somebody with the exact same attitude. I doubt very much she’s some sort of maverick outlier gone rogue in her views. This is a collective stance from the APCC, not an individual one.
Does she find the Palestinian flag also a “disturbing tool of division”, or is that OK?
I do not have the proportions to hand and I cannot be bothered to find out but a significant proportion of the PCCs are Tories. They have sat by and allowed their little club to become a socially woke and divisive outfit.
By the way, to refer to a meeting of so few people whose significance has been so little as a “summit” is surely a good indication of the pretentiousness of the political self-regarding elites. When little girls and women are being raped and abused they had nothing to say (despite Emily Spurrell’s reported “She has also been outspoken on the importance of tackling Violence against Women and Girls.” – some girls matter more than others it seems). When two tier justice arose – silence. Flags, however, national flags are so worrying they have a summit about it.
Wiki says “Emily Elizabeth Spurrell (born 1 November 1987) is a British politician serving as Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside since 2021.[1] A member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she served as a member of Liverpool City Council from 2012 to 2021.”
There is no evidence I could see online of employment in what might generously be called… Read more »
Exactly what qualifications has this chubby bugger which fits her for this non-job or is it simply that she is a good liar?
Labour party hack put forward as their PCC candidate. What had to be done to get on that delicious gravy train I do not know. We often discover unsuspected partnerhip or media connections were reason enough.
“Ms Spurrell pointed out that most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls were British white men, not asylum seekers.”
So the paki rape gangs is a myth? I see.
Yes, all these hundreds of victims are all lying in the same way.
“our neighbours, our colleagues and our friends …”
Could she tell us who these neighbours, colleagues and friends are because all mine are white English and we get on swimmingly.
“Ms Spurrell pointed out that most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls were British white men, not asylum seekers.”
So, the police do have the numbers after all. We look forward to your release of same Ms Spurrell. Thank you very much.
She’s 38yrs old and talks like a teenager. We need competence in order to protect our borders not compassion.
“Let’s be clear, to couch anti-immigration rhetoric in the language of protecting women and girls is not only misleading – it is offensive,” she added.
Experiment: pick 20 of these illegals at random, lock her in a room with them overnight. Then ask how clear she is.
An eminently reasonable proposal.
Are they going to be that desperate?
She’d be safe; “too fat” they’d say.
“But when they are used to provoke fear or assert dominance, they become tools of division,” she said. “That is not free expression – that is intimidation.”
“Sowing fear…fuelling division” blah blah…
Does anyone recall any of these people demonstrating such levels of concern when many Muslim dominated areas were flying Palestine flags from every lamppost? They said bugger all! That’s your “sowing fear” and “fuelling division” within communities. What about the hate marches? Doesn’t matter that Jews and Christian natives might feel unsafe or intimidated seeing that crap week in, week out, and the hostile, antisocial behaviour that went with it?
“Ms Spurrell pointed out that most of the perpetrators of violence against women and girls were British white men, not asylum seekers.”
This just takes the biscuit. Nobody’s saying white, native men have stopped committing sex crimes, but the stats regarding who is committing the most speak for themselves. Learn the term “per capita”, ya bloody denialst traitor!😠 Honestly, talk about ‘the enemy within’…🤯
Does anyone recall any of these people demonstrating such levels of concern when many Muslim dominated areas were flying Palestine flags from every lamppost? They said bugger all! That’s your “sowing fear” and “fuelling division” within communities.
That’s an important point: To Spurrell, there are communities and communities and she cares about the community which sees the flag of Palestine as unifying symbol but not the English flag and doesn’t care much about communities where this might be the other way round. That’s because “Palestine!” is – by definition – a good cause and “England!” a bad one. By her definition, at least.
Yes, the word “Community” is code for “Everyone except White People”.
Flags of another country are yes. National flags of the country that they are in are great.
My opinion is that Emily Spurrell is a ‘disturbing tool.’
I bet she watches the BBC and votes Green. Had she been around years ago I’ll bet she’d have helped cover up for the rape gangs. You can tell a lot about a person when they go on the record to share their views like this and she strikes me as a person that’d stab her own people in the back without a second thought. Morally bankrupt, dishonest and corrupt.
She’s a Labour Councillor & the Police & Crime Commissioner for Merseyside, earning £89k for that part-time gig (one reason she’s upset with Ms Mamhood). Add that to her Councillor allowance & she’s on over £100k.
Bloody hell.
Well we look at what authority figures like her have to say on this subject, as well as the stance of the rest of the APCC lot, and then it becomes very clear how all the police forces across England are collectively behaving as they are. This is why. It’s a ‘top down’ thing and it’s no wonder all the Chief Constables are ordering their forces to police in such a way or to adopt certain ideologies. It’s like a fish that rots from the head, and I’m not sure what can be done to change that because it’s like the entire ethos of policing bears no resemblance to what it was a few decades ago. How can something like this ever be remedied?
A fish rots from the head is the perfect analogy. The cause has been complacency and an excess of trust on the part of too many citizens. Reform UK seems to be the only hope.
According to Google the Chairs of the APCC get voted in by the rest of the 40 members and serve for 2 years. Spurrell was voted in Sept last year so has 1 more year to go. I’m very doubtful any of them will be radically different from their predecessor, given the consistent problems with the UK police we’ve been seeing for years now, so once again, I think it’s a case of all eyes on Reform. There’s a lot riding on them but it’s not even a given they’ll get in.😬
That’s a big thumbs up from me. 👍👍👍
And add ‘virtue-signaller’ after ‘corrupt’.
I suspect that her brain (or what’s left of it) is as vacant as her stare. Clearly has an IQ lower than room temperature.
OK, I don’t know her personally but I imagine she’s the textbook political commissar.
Jumping on the PC/woke bandwagon, hyper-aware of the latest slogans, always on the attack detecting the slightest deviation from the proscribed ideology. Possibly a bully.