The Liverpool Times

New labours poison takes its toll?…

It was not long after the reported death of the Chief Constable of Manchester when Max Clifford, the publicist, told the media that someone had phoned him with info regarding sexual indiscretions that could take down a top cop. The media seemed keen to let this anonymous whisper slip into the news reports.

The media seemed keen to do the coroners job, reporting on scattered suicide notes found near the body, speculating that the case looked clear cut. But as it turns out, no notes were found and the coroner, so far, cannot determine the cause of death.

The British media won’t let family grief and bereavement get in the way of good story – and the pens or keyboard tapping claws were sharpened and quickly jabbed out the word ‘suicide’ adding that a ‘half empty bottle of gin’ was found by the body.

The inference is already set, and the appetite of the peeping Tom British public, sated a little.

True to form, the journalists quickly set about setting up the sexual interest angle. This is not long after the body of Michael Todd made its last journey down the beauty spot he knew as a young man. Even then, the emails, phone calls and hurried activity of hacks was well underway.

Below, Michael Todd, in better days. Also Jack Straw, who denied (lied) that UK airports were used for extraordinary rendition flights, and Tony Blair who made the same denial.(lie) The last image is of prisoners, in Guantanamo Bay, one of the destinations for prisoners, kidnapped, hooded, drugged and crated up for delivery to torturers.

Nods and winks about an affair, or many affairs, pepper the news articles. The Murdoch cheque book and other cheque books will be out - trying to lure in some slapper to sell her side of the story. Former lovers, even going back to his student days, will be sought, and any memory of intimate private moments will be dragged out or just made up to titillate the millions of idiots who pore over the tabloids, suckered by sport, sex, drugs and a chance to see what the butler saw.

As with the ‘suicide’ of Dr David Kelly, the media also buzzed with talk of drugs. (many in the media are coked up, so that’s hardly a surprise) As with Robin Cook (who died suddenly in a similar inaccessible area) the chat about affairs of the heart are bandied about.

This is mud throwing which might leave a mark that won’t come out in the wash. It also seems like someone is putting the boot in first, laying out the ‘clues’ for the public to pick up on. Some seem to be setting out to destroy the reputation of a top cop who the public warmed to a little. A cop who might well have gotten a little bit mouthy as the crime wave in Manchester and the UK goes up a few gears.

Below, Michael Todd, in better days, takes 50,000 volts off a taser gun.

Dr David Kelly, like Robin Cook and the Chief Constable Michael Todd, were also in conflict with New Labour and the establishment. Dr David Kelly investigated the new labour evidence regarding the Iraqi ‘weapons of mass destruction’. The manner in which he died was suspicious to say the least. The manner, in which he was attacked after he made allegations that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, was appalling.

Robin Cook bravely resigned due to his opposition to the Iraq war but conveniently died before he could spill more beans over the lies, treachery and duplicity of new labour. But for Robin Cook, there may not have even been a parliamentary vote to usher us into World War Three.

Michael Todd investigated the claims of ‘extraordinary rendition flights’, an investigation which has recently been seen to be a cover up with the first official admission that British citizens are engaged in helping to torture people. Michael Todd, as chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, agreed to probe the allegations from human rights groups and individuals on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers. The findings have since been shown to be sloppy police work – or a concerted cover up. The report after an 18 month investigation concluded that…

“There was no evidence that UK airports were used to transport people by the CIA for torture in other countries.”

But we now know that UK airports are being used to send some hooded, drugged up ‘suspect’ goat farmer to be abused by the latest version of the SS Gestapo.

David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, recently admitted that two US “extraordinary rendition” flights landed on UK territory in 2002.

It is hard to see Michael Todd not suspecting something. In fact, I doubt there is a cop in the UK who does not think that new labour are lying through their back teeth every time a minister opens his or her mouth to deny something with respect to the war.

The danger is that new labour bullies and intimidates cops into following the party line. We’ve become like Stalinist Russia were top officials have to be seen to be backing the political ideals of the day. Those who speak out of line, no matter how much of an asset they are, will be discarded for some obedient careerists who will never ruffle the feathers of the strutting peacocks in power.

A recent article and link to a video here on The Liverpool Times, repeated the claims of an ex SAS man Ben Griffin who is believed to be the first SAS soldier to refuse to go into combat after seeing the war in Iraq. He quit the Army on moral grounds stating that US fighters viewed Iraqis as “sub human”.

Ben Griffin states that….

“Since the invasion of Afghanistan in the autumn of 2001 UKSF (UK special forces) has operated within a joint US/UK Task Force. This Task Force has been responsible for the detention of hundreds if not thousands of individuals in Afghanistan and Iraq. Individuals detained by British soldiers within this Task force have ended up in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Bagram Theatre Internment Facility, Balad Special Forces Base, Camp Nama BIAP and Abu Ghraib Prison.”

Below, the result of the illegal invasion of Iraq drags us into complicity with American torturers. British troops have handed over Iraqis to be tortured for no other reason than they defended their nation.

We might never know to what level Michael Todd investigated this ongoing serious matter. If he was an honest copper, he would have had perhaps seen something very dishonest as he looked at the evidence.

Some of this evidence links this nation to an international torture racket which seems to look like Murder Inc with government backing and international bankers salivating over the prospect of more mineral rights for the rich over the dead bodies of human beings who never asked for or sought a war with the West.

If the British people were being lied to on a mass scale – then a policeman is duty bound to investigate and to tell the people. Sadly, we have seen the role of the police hamstrung once it reaches the high levels of political power.

This could be seen as recent attempts to investigate cash for honours, was countered with the likes of Lord Goldsmith, a moneybags sugar daddy who bribes and whines his way through life with a degree in law to give him one up over the poor. Few cops would fancy their chances of promotion if they land a gig tackling corruption in high places.

If the police get all detective like with the rich and powerful, their investigatory role will be demeaned – their personal lives trashed and their life work made to seem like it was self indulgence.

The day that Michael Todd went walking had some of the worse weather we have seen for a while. It is described as atrocious and the high winds lashed the peaks with speeds of 80mph. The wind was blowing a gale force, and the temperature plummeted. Such weather might put most off, but many men will walk in such conditions. That in itself is not suicidal as seen by the number of people who head towards storms just to feel the wind nearly knock them off their feet or those who head to the edge of the coastline to see and feel the spray of the waves.

Clearly, no man or woman would deem that in itself to be an attempt to take ones own life.

Michael Todd carried a mobile phone, plus a Blackberry (a handheld computer device.) The attempt to ‘triangulate’ his position using one or either of these devices was reported to have sent rescuers in the wrong direction. This will doubtless be part of any investigation.

This tragic event will leave the family in a lot of pain. It also leaves doubt in the minds of the rest of us who wait to see whether this will be investigated thoroughly. Whether Michael Todd died as a result of his own actions, or perhaps got caught up in a cry for help that could not be answered in time, is something that we’ll leave for now to go through the due process of investigation.

As for Michael Todd’s private life – it’s easy to just make it all up now that he is no longer here to defend himself. There is something ‘not right’ in the way his death was reported and the mud slung before the grave was even dug.

We hope that a memorial for Michael Todd will testify and bear witness to the good that he did as a copper. Whatever his frailties and flaws as a human being, the 50 years he was here on this Earth, were not wasted. In the balance of what he gave and what he took, it seems he left us with more than he took. And in an era in which violent criminals hold the rest of us to ransom, losing a good cop is the last thing we need.

We only hope that common sense approach he took to policing – the hands on approach and the demand from fellow officers that they don’t grow complacent, will live on. There is also a need for the police to be able to spot and deal with officers who are perhaps going through some difficulties. In recent weeks, several high profile policemen have apparently committed suicide.

Policing is a high pressure job and no sooner has one crisis stopped when another begins. Although the pressures have always been there – it is perhaps even more of a pressure cooker when you’re dragged into political investigations, being told lies by those above you and given a role which is perhaps to sate the public’s curiosity or suspicions.

The police today are expected to be answerable to the media, but the media often have their own agenda and most of the public are more interested in the fact that burglary got slashed. If the cop who did that was a chronic gambler, on a bottle of Scotch a day, with 4 divorces and a track record of failed romantic adventures, it is not our concern, is it?

It looks like Michael Todd was used by the powers that be – used because the public had some level of trust in him and faith in his abilities. Sadly, the poison handshake of new labour leaves another good man dead, in circumstances which are, so far, a mystery.

Like the scientist Dr David Kelly, Michael Todd, like it or not, joins the list of notable public figures who were close to the Iraq war and subsequent spillovers, such as the wicked aid to the Americans who farm out ‘suspects’ to be tortured by backward East Euro states (slavish thugs for the highest bidder) or Pakistan and other nations.

For this reason we hope that investigation into rendition flights is reopened now that everything we were told is pretty much a series of lies or is that ‘mistruths’?.

We can only now wonder at what The Chief Constable of Manchester might have been able to tell us about the 18 months investigation he led for ACPO. Sadly, he is no longer a witness we can call.

Our commiserations to the family, friends and colleagues of Michael Todd.

Below, the tribute from Kirkby Police Station, in Liverpool.