Farah Damji: Waging war on morons to help women ex-prisoners

Farah Damji

Darling MA

I find myself feeling dangerous and about to unleash the furies and Rottweilers against the morons we seems to have been lumbered with because not enough people went out and voted, called the Coalition Government. By default we are encumbered with the Bullingdon Boys Club of Social Misfits and Rejects. I mean Ian Duncan Smith, liar, bully, cheat? I thought I was bad.

Having written recently to Grant Shapps to ask him to stop funding the leaky charity bucket model to “end homelessness” by homelessness vulture charities, Shelter and Crisis, who are heavily invested in perpetuating disempowerment and disenfranchisement, I have been “condemned” by Crisis Director of Policy for being an ex-offender. Get out the big guns and act like a grown up, don’t gossip and tittle tattle about me, answer the issue you moron. I’ve now written to the Chairman of the Trustees at Crisis to ask him to suspend the funding from DCLG pending the outcome of a review by Sir Adrian Montague into investment in the Private Rented Sector as Lesley Morphy, CEO of Crisis who is on a hefty salary (I believe over 200k a year) refuses to forward my letter or concerns to him directly.

This on top of the amendment last year to create a Women’s Justice Commission, do you remember, the  fragrant Jonathan Aitken chaired it and lots of important criminal justice people attended and we passed a  motion carried forward into an amendment by Baroness Corston and Baroness Gould into the current Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill currently before Parliament at Report Stage in the House of Lords. Well I gave a copy of the petition and open letter to Ken Clarke to Crispin Blunt personally and heard…well, nothing. So far. 

The amendment was taken to a vote and the House was divided 217:217. This isn’t about posturing or policy for me, as you know Darling MA, but about creating efficient, gender based policy which will save the Treasury tens of millions every year and actually reduce re-offending, which the Justice Minister claims he wants to do. And even when prison policy Government funded dragonesses Juliet Lyons and Frances Crook tried to hijack it, I thought it was all for the greater good, get the amendment into law and the needs of women in the criminal justice system properly addressed. I can’t help but feel sorry for Crispin Blunt of course, whose eyes glaze over at the mere mention of women and probably can’t wait to hand over the toxic douche bag portfolio of Prisons Minister in the long awaited reshuffle promised for this summer.

I met with Imran Khan the human rights solicitor last week to discuss the possibility of Judicial Review of LASPO in that gender inequalities have not been considered and an Equalities Impact Assessment has not been properly undertaken.  I foresee a long hard legal challenge all the way to the European Court if necessary, about time Ministers in the Government and Dear Dave realise they are accountable to the electorate and punishment for profit and leaky charity buckets which go against the austerity and performance culture being embedded in other parts of Government have no place in whatever version of Big Society and philanthrocapitalism they are rolling out this / next week.

I wish you a Happy Easter (holiday) Darling MA, baton down the hatches, remember Jesus was the first hoody and keep your tin bucket and spade at hand. Any Easter Eggs?

Salaams / shalom

Farah  x
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