Human Touch
A belated Substack post and update on "Inferno" and other matters.
The eponymous title track from Springsteen’s ‘Human Touch’ LP contains the following lyrics;
Girl, ain't no kindness in the face of strangers
Ain't gonna find no miracles here
Well, you can wait on your blessings now, darlin'
I got a deal for you right here
I ain't lookin' for prayers or pity
I ain't comin' round searchin' for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that human touch
Just a little of that human touch
I’ve been thinking about these words and others of late. The underlying message being of taking solace in the immediate and being able to live life and express oneself in a positive relationship and move forward and overcome inertia.
Pause Button.
There isn’t just myself, but others who are in a strange limbo caused by the whole West Midlands War and it’s aftermath. Unable to move forward and engage with life due to unresolved conflict. I believe that psychologists and therapists term it seeking for ‘closure’.
For example, Dan Quinn. The only qualified candidate for the 2023 Chief Fire Officer process, he should now have been into the fourth year of his appointment and the West Midlands Fire Service should have been operating smoothly in pursuit of the Strategic Risk Management Plan that he would have authorised and approved. Alongside the extremely well paid job and attendant benefit for his family, a significant pension accruing, the satisfaction of leading an organisation and improving public safety and peoples’ lives in his home region.
Instead, he is an extremely capable Consultant, a “Gun for Hire”, but as I well know, that type of work, the commissions and projects are at the mercy of market forces, availability and economic supply and demand. There is limited security as no matter how adept (and he is exceptionally well equipped), nobody knows when the next project is coming, and like myself his pension remains deferred until age 60.
The estate of Barbra Campbell and also investigator Jay Rai remain owed significant amounts from KMC Legal and Finance Ltd, who failed to meet a court deadline for a costs application. Neither can move forward until paid what they are owed for the fine work that they have done.
I myself have found that I remain ‘persona non grata’ in the UK Fire Service and wider industry, and what little work I had has dried up. Some decent people that have more insight have kindly subcontracted me some work that they couldn’t fit in or didn’t want to do, but due to the ‘joint comms strategy’ the prevailing (false) narrative is that I was pivotal in causing the death of Wayne Brown, may have had racist motivations and merely escaped justice on a legal technicality. The truth that there was never any evidence from outset of any crime, and Brown made false accusations to conceal his own wrongdoing is not understood or accepted by the majority and dearly lamented by myself. Who or what kind of complany or client wants to give work and money to a man like that?
KMC’s cock-up regarding my costs caused, as many know, a significant six-figure loss to myself. Certainly enough to buy a modest property with a garage in one of the more upscale rural locations in my native Staffordshire. With a deferred Fire Service pension, a-la Quinn, and now all savings disappeared, the ‘innocence tax’ I paid to defend myself has been total and complete. A home and savings disappeared, a future decimated.
Now, most are aware that I commence Barrister Vocational Training in September, should I be successful in obtaining a scholarship (£20k fees that I can’t begin to cover), but ‘pupillage’ (the probationary contract and final stage of becoming self-employed at the Bar) is a tough ask for any candidate, has circa 500 applicants for each spot, and that ratio grows annually, plus I’ve the obvious disadvantages as a later life career changer and former defendant.
Nettles and Ostriches.
Not the erstwhile Bergerac actor, John, but the adage of ‘grasping the nettle’ or confronting a difficult situation, however painful in the short term and addressing it so that it doesn’t become protracted and a chronic malaise. I’ve always been an advocate of putting oneself through that immediate pain threshold to achieve a longer term solution.
The absence of addressing the thorny facts and nettle strewn track ahead, was a feature of the West Midlands Fire & Rescue Authority’s (WMFRA) AGM on Monday. Newer elected Councillors, from less traditional parties such as Reform, have not been briefed on the pertinent facts that catalysed the situation that they inherit during this final twelve months of WMFRA governance prior to transfer to the Metropolitan Mayor’s Office. For the purposes of clarity, let us break these down into their most rudimentary form.
Dan Quinn was the sole qualified applicant in 2023 for the Chief Fire Officer’s role. His qualifications and credentials were thoroughly checked. He did not get the job. Wayne Brown was given the job, his credentials were not checked. Several items in his CV were falsified and deliberate misrepresentations. He was committing fraud. Quinn lost out due to negligence by the organisation and was a victim of Brown’s fraud and anyone that may have accessorial liability within that.
I raised concerns regarding Brown’s credentials, competence and conduct around women. These were based upon firsthand knowledge and widely known public domain information, such as the email from Brown’s former supervisor in LFB, Mark West, which was sent to all five thousand staff. My concerns were raised through the correct channels. Instead of investigating, I was subject to false accusations by Brown, supported by deliberate wrongdoings by those supporting him, or acting upon his instructions within WMFS and WMFRA and the participation in a damaging and binary ‘joint comms strategy’ designed to portray me as a criminal (in itself possibly a disingenuous attempt to circumvent the Contempt of Court Act 1981). After the pressure and stress of a two year investigation, unlawful charge and malicious prosecution the case was discontinued and then I opted for acquittal- the CPS offering ‘nil evidence’, which reflected their continual disclosure failings and breaches of Judge’s directions throughout the proceedings. A house, savings and future livelihood were the cost and some may even argue that sanity should be added to that list.
WMFRA and WMFS should not attempt to simply ignore the fact that their actions both organisationally, and by individuals within for whom they hold vicarious liability for, have caused damage which is clear and quantifiable, and ‘but for’ those actions would never have occurred. That is in addition to those within those organisations who have been either silenced, or remain afraid to speak up about their own suffering at the hands of persons within, either dead, retired, or still serving.
A public service that has as it’s credo the salvation of life, has acted contrary to that. Instead of protecting from harm, it (and those within) have caused harm. We could expand on all of the ethical breaches, statutory breaches, criminality etc, but lets not get lost in the details and forget the impact of what this really is.
It is necessary to demonstrate some leadership, ethics and basic human decency, or human touch and make the deal right here in order to right wrongs, allow the affected to move on, or this current stasis akin to a ‘Cold War’ shall rumble on and on. This isn’t something that can continue to be ignored as there is a human cost which places all the decision makers in breach of their obligations and consequently there is a case of non-feasance in public office against each man Jack and woman Jill on the WMFRA.
The Boss.
Springsteen is known as the Boss and famed for his attention to detail and control over the E-Street band, rehearsals, studio sessions and performances. Perhaps time for Cath Bayton or Simon Tuhill to gain some inspiration or a lesson from the New Jersey songwriting legend?