Super analysis, Dom, very accurate description of the attitudes of SO13 (Anti-terrorist Branch) bosses and rank and file officers towards SO12 (SB). I had only just been transferred into SB on the back of my work on the costing and funding of of the 2005 London bombings when I was seconded to the NTFIU. It was obvious to me that the proposed merger was nothing of the sort, but was in fact an absorption of 12 by 13, and that, along with some of its arcane and elitist practices, huge amounts of knowledge and expertise would be lost. No great skill was required to be an action robot, every action being created by HOLMES. In my short time as an NTFIU DS, I briefed the Cabinet Office, visiting German politicians and police chiefs, and others. I was probably the last person transferred into 12 , when I think about it. I'd like to chat with you about Overt sometime, I brought that from a BSS Ops room briefing to NSY, not that anyone will acknowledge it if you ask!
The age old business concept of delegating responsibility for a function to people best placed to deal with it, has now been completely abandoned by our political class.
i.e. If you want good policing, healthcare or military, appoint responsible, accountable individuals to those (and other) specific tasks, and if they don't perform, heads roll. From the top down, not the bottom up, as is the usual policy.
We now have a government/s elbow deep in day to day activities of all those functions, imparting their ideological 'wisdom' in response to demands for operational resources. Everything now comes with strings - e.g. conform to the prevailing government's LGBTQ+ policies, or we'll not only refuse funding increases, we'll 'reallocate' (cut) it if you don't comply.
Like the Patriot act in America (anti terrorism legislation passed in the wake of 9/11 which gave the state licence to investigate every activity of citizens lives) PREVENT is modelled along similar (identical?) lines.
They are conduits by which government itself can now scrutinise us all, down to the Nth degree, the holy grail of which, is the ID card. And, surprise, surprise, having allowed 10 million legal migrants into the country almost unchallenged, not to mention unknown numbers of illegal migrants, the compliant majority of the British public now must accept personal surveillance because of the threat of imported crime and terrorism.
I mean, all criminals and terrorists faithfully follow the rules.
Next up, to ensure you, your children, your parents and Granny and Grandpa aren't laundering vast amounts of money derived from their narcotics and child trafficking activities, CBDC's.
No, no, our government/s will assure us. They would never monitor your alcohol or smoking habits in a large spreadsheet of your various activities and pass that onto the NHS, or even, Heaven Forbid, restrict your ability to buy booze by activating the 'Healthy Alcohol Limit' switch at Tesco. "Card not working today, sir? Let's have a look in your trolley to see if I can help. I'll try removing that nice bottle of Malt Whisky first, just in case you understand."
Special dispensations awarded for pre-registered applications in the event of weddings, Bar Mitzvah's and Christenings at specially licensed premises. No need to worry about the AI surveillance camera's, they are there for your security.
Tried to withdraw more than £250 of your money from a hole in the wall recently. Good luck.
The Branch was a political police that operated in secret. 15 is a criminal police that operates in semi secret. Branch was born from denial by the state. It had to have a political police,but it didn't want one. So Irish and Indian cops built the Branch. In secret from everyone. From day one it monitored those who threatened the state, paid informants and deployed assets into groups and organisations. Mainly working class cops because a gentleman couldn't be a spy. Box set itself apart and over decades slowly whittled away at the Branch. Once the cold War ended with mi5 virtually .ade unemployed over night it did serious organised crime, then it didn't. Took over Irish matters and Brighton bomb helped it enormously. Then came 9/11 & 7/7. So called New Terrorism gave box and it's allies all the excuses it needed. Job done. Employ Hayman to do the dirty work. Game over. Turn off the lights on the way out. Shut the door behind you.
Confirmation of the “long march through our institutions,” came recently when I discovered that a Home Office report would designate me as an extremist because I watch and enjoy Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys.
As I’m typing this whilst watching The Antiques Roadshow, I guess I am beyond saving.
'When I joined, the national guidelines stated Subversion (a core SB responsibility) was any activity that might;
'“threaten the safety or well-being of the State, and which are intended to undermine or overthrow parliamentary democracy by political, industrial or violent means.”'
Ah, that explains ever so much. Given only that the average intelligence of British (or allegedly British) people has been gradually falling for as much as 125 years**, one can see that the present dimwits in charge of our great nation imagine that the State is simply them - the elite - and "parliamentary democracy" means the present denizens of Parliament.
Pervasive reification, you see. Representing something abstract as concrete or real. The poor souls are unable to understand or cope with high abstractions like "the State" or "parliamentary democracy" (or, quite likely, "terrorism" or the number 3). So whenever they encounter them, they unthinkingly translate them into terms they can grasp, like "Starmer", "the current MPs", intelligent people, and 3 bottles of whisky.
Thus they see any criticism of themselves or their cunning plans as "terrorism", and want it stopped.
** "At Our Wits' End: Why We're Becoming Less Intelligent and What it Means for the Future", by Edward Dutton and Michael A. Woodley of menie Yr.
The real shame is that I never knew that they were the good old days when I was there. Having the time and support to understand who the enemy were not was so important. Now they think she is someone who likes posting a rant after a couple of sherries.
Super analysis, Dom, very accurate description of the attitudes of SO13 (Anti-terrorist Branch) bosses and rank and file officers towards SO12 (SB). I had only just been transferred into SB on the back of my work on the costing and funding of of the 2005 London bombings when I was seconded to the NTFIU. It was obvious to me that the proposed merger was nothing of the sort, but was in fact an absorption of 12 by 13, and that, along with some of its arcane and elitist practices, huge amounts of knowledge and expertise would be lost. No great skill was required to be an action robot, every action being created by HOLMES. In my short time as an NTFIU DS, I briefed the Cabinet Office, visiting German politicians and police chiefs, and others. I was probably the last person transferred into 12 , when I think about it. I'd like to chat with you about Overt sometime, I brought that from a BSS Ops room briefing to NSY, not that anyone will acknowledge it if you ask!
The age old business concept of delegating responsibility for a function to people best placed to deal with it, has now been completely abandoned by our political class.
i.e. If you want good policing, healthcare or military, appoint responsible, accountable individuals to those (and other) specific tasks, and if they don't perform, heads roll. From the top down, not the bottom up, as is the usual policy.
We now have a government/s elbow deep in day to day activities of all those functions, imparting their ideological 'wisdom' in response to demands for operational resources. Everything now comes with strings - e.g. conform to the prevailing government's LGBTQ+ policies, or we'll not only refuse funding increases, we'll 'reallocate' (cut) it if you don't comply.
Like the Patriot act in America (anti terrorism legislation passed in the wake of 9/11 which gave the state licence to investigate every activity of citizens lives) PREVENT is modelled along similar (identical?) lines.
They are conduits by which government itself can now scrutinise us all, down to the Nth degree, the holy grail of which, is the ID card. And, surprise, surprise, having allowed 10 million legal migrants into the country almost unchallenged, not to mention unknown numbers of illegal migrants, the compliant majority of the British public now must accept personal surveillance because of the threat of imported crime and terrorism.
I mean, all criminals and terrorists faithfully follow the rules.
Next up, to ensure you, your children, your parents and Granny and Grandpa aren't laundering vast amounts of money derived from their narcotics and child trafficking activities, CBDC's.
No, no, our government/s will assure us. They would never monitor your alcohol or smoking habits in a large spreadsheet of your various activities and pass that onto the NHS, or even, Heaven Forbid, restrict your ability to buy booze by activating the 'Healthy Alcohol Limit' switch at Tesco. "Card not working today, sir? Let's have a look in your trolley to see if I can help. I'll try removing that nice bottle of Malt Whisky first, just in case you understand."
Special dispensations awarded for pre-registered applications in the event of weddings, Bar Mitzvah's and Christenings at specially licensed premises. No need to worry about the AI surveillance camera's, they are there for your security.
Tried to withdraw more than £250 of your money from a hole in the wall recently. Good luck.
Papers please.
The Branch was a political police that operated in secret. 15 is a criminal police that operates in semi secret. Branch was born from denial by the state. It had to have a political police,but it didn't want one. So Irish and Indian cops built the Branch. In secret from everyone. From day one it monitored those who threatened the state, paid informants and deployed assets into groups and organisations. Mainly working class cops because a gentleman couldn't be a spy. Box set itself apart and over decades slowly whittled away at the Branch. Once the cold War ended with mi5 virtually .ade unemployed over night it did serious organised crime, then it didn't. Took over Irish matters and Brighton bomb helped it enormously. Then came 9/11 & 7/7. So called New Terrorism gave box and it's allies all the excuses it needed. Job done. Employ Hayman to do the dirty work. Game over. Turn off the lights on the way out. Shut the door behind you.
Thank you for an insightful essay.
Confirmation of the “long march through our institutions,” came recently when I discovered that a Home Office report would designate me as an extremist because I watch and enjoy Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys.
As I’m typing this whilst watching The Antiques Roadshow, I guess I am beyond saving.
'When I joined, the national guidelines stated Subversion (a core SB responsibility) was any activity that might;
'“threaten the safety or well-being of the State, and which are intended to undermine or overthrow parliamentary democracy by political, industrial or violent means.”'
Ah, that explains ever so much. Given only that the average intelligence of British (or allegedly British) people has been gradually falling for as much as 125 years**, one can see that the present dimwits in charge of our great nation imagine that the State is simply them - the elite - and "parliamentary democracy" means the present denizens of Parliament.
Pervasive reification, you see. Representing something abstract as concrete or real. The poor souls are unable to understand or cope with high abstractions like "the State" or "parliamentary democracy" (or, quite likely, "terrorism" or the number 3). So whenever they encounter them, they unthinkingly translate them into terms they can grasp, like "Starmer", "the current MPs", intelligent people, and 3 bottles of whisky.
Thus they see any criticism of themselves or their cunning plans as "terrorism", and want it stopped.
** "At Our Wits' End: Why We're Becoming Less Intelligent and What it Means for the Future", by Edward Dutton and Michael A. Woodley of menie Yr.
The real shame is that I never knew that they were the good old days when I was there. Having the time and support to understand who the enemy were not was so important. Now they think she is someone who likes posting a rant after a couple of sherries.