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  • Walter's Blog.
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  • Introduction
  • About Walter
    • 1980 Joining Up - Grafton Street >
      • Arrival and First Impressions
      • First Week
      • Training
      • Passing Out
    • Yaumati Cowboy >
      • Getting on the Streets
      • Tempo of the City
      • Jumpers, pill poppers and the indoor BBQ
      • Into a Minefield.
    • Why Tango in Paris, when you can Foxtrot in Kowloon? >
      • Baptism By Fire
      • Kai Tak with Mrs Thatcher.
      • Home; The Boy Returns
  • 1984 - 1986
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    • Having a go: SDU
    • Starting a Chernobyl family
    • EOD - Don't touch anything
    • Semen Stains and the rules
  • 1987 to 1992 - Should I Stay or Go?
    • Blue Lights, Sirens & Grenades
    • Drugs, Broken Kids & A Plane Crash
    • 600 Happy Meals Please!
    • Hong Kong's Best Insurance
    • Riding the Iron Horse
  • Crime in Hong Kong
    • Falling Crime Rates - Why?
    • Triads
  • History of Hong Kong Policing
    • History 1841 to 1941
    • History 1945 to 1967
    • Anatomy of the 50 cent Riot - 1966
    • The Fall of a Commissioner.
    • History 1967 to 1980
    • Three Wise Men from the West
    • The Blue Berets.
    • The African Korps and other tribes.
    • Getting About - Transport.
    • A Pub in every station
    • Bullshit Bingo & Meetings
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    • The Godfather.
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    • Contact
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Walter's Blog

"But how can you live and have no story to tell?" Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact free rant unfiltered by rational argument. 

"If you want to read a blog to get a sense of what is going on in Hong Kong these days or a blog that would tell you wh at life was like living in colonial Hong Kong, this blog, WALTER'S BLOG, fits the bill."  Hong Kong Blog Review

10/7/2018 1 Comment

It's coming home.

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PictureComing to a street near you.
It’s coming home! And I don’t mean the World Cup. That may yet come back, and if it does it will be the only upward blip in the dreary decline of Britain. What is coming home is the reality that the UK has a much-diminished position in the world. If you don’t believe me, look no further than that other supposed Russian event … Novichok on Britain’s streets.

Assuming the Russians are responsible for Salisbury, the UK response is one of impotence. All the Home Secretary could offer was “We will consult our allies”. These are the same allies we are busy trying to push out the door over Brexit. That’s another story. That Sajid Javid can’t offer more than those weak platitudes illustrates a point. That Great Britain no longer has the clout nor the gumption to stand up to Russia. 

Of course, the weak response may rest on a lack of evidence to substantiate the claim that Russia was responsible. Indeed, we’ve heard nothing other than statements from UK officials. Thus, it would be wise to be sceptical. 

Meanwhile, one person is dead, and another is fighting for his life. This suggests many things. The authorities don’t know how and when the Novachok was delivered. Also, their ability to track residues and eliminate them from the environment is far from foolproof. Granted its an extremely complicated task, and some leeway must be given. Yet, it’s not helpful for the government to keep repeating that the risk to the public is minimal. A woman is dead, that’s not a minimal risk.  

This week could prove the perfect storm of issues that brings many things. Brexit is unravelling before our eyes. Prime Minister May is on the ropes. David Davies and Boris Johnson are gone. Whether she will survive the next few weeks is debatable. Indeed, the Tories don’t want a change in leadership, but events are freewheeling at the moment with control primarily gone. 

The complexities of Brexit remain unresolved. Many are now asking is it all worth it. In Brussels, there is mild amusement. That the British can’t even agree amongst themselves a negotiating position is raising weary eyebrows. It’s all a bit ‘People’s Front of Judea’ versus ‘Popular Front of Judea’.  

On Thursday, President Trump rolls into town. He can expect a large reception party. Things could get difficult for the police, who are already scrambling to draw manpower from across the country. At least this will be a change from them policing people’s words and thoughts. With fewer than 5% of robberies and burglaries detected in England, their absence from crime-fighting won’t be noticed. 

One of the issues he’s taken to heart is NATO. Again, Britain is not looking armed and ready. Since 1990 the navy has shrunk by 60%, and some ships can’t leave Portsmouth. The military lacks depth, reserves or a posture that meets modern threats. Military leaders have pulled the wool over the politician's eyes to buy carriers and fancy fighter planes. What's needed is manpower, rapid response and asymmetric capabilities. You don’t get that with a lumbering carrier. The only saving grace is that the special forces remain at the top of their game.

So it's all coming home. The truth about Brexit, the truth about a diminished Britain, Trump and hopefully the World Cup. What a week.

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1 Comment
Chris Emmett
12/7/2018 11:59:12 pm

It’s true that since the 1960s, Britain has suffered from a post colonial malaise. Britain wants to be a world power but no longer has the biceps for it. As for Brexit, how much space does Walter’s comment section have? My main gripe is the EU’s inexorable and undemocratic creep towards authoritarian , federal statehood. The only vote I had on that was the Brexit referendum. For too long, there’s been paralysis as May tried to please everyone and, of course, pleased no one. Last week, she shook the tree and two of the monkeys fell out. What’s left should (hopefully) be a more cohesive team that’s better able to push through a good deal. If the EU turn us down, then we’re on our own. Just one thought: look at independence movements from 1776 USA to the 20th century dissolution of the British empire. Not one of these movements put much weight on the financial ramifications.

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    Walter De Havilland was one of the last of the colonial coppers. He served 35 years in the Royal Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Police Force. He's long retired. 

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