Tuesday 8 May 2012

That Clarkson 'Gaffe'

The Mail is describing this from Jeremy Clarkson as a gaffe.
'Nobody is waved through any more. Immigration officials are not allowed to use their discretion,' he said.

'Common sense has been erased from the system. And the result is plain for all to see. There's a two-hour wait. And come the Olympics they're saying that time frame will double.

'Net result: Immigration officials have to assume that the nice family of four coming back from their holiday in Sardinia is going to cheat the social out of millions then blow up during the 100 metres final.'

'Nobody likes a racist. Nobody likes prejudice. It has no place at work, at play or on the terraces of a football stadium. It has no place at school, or in government.

'But at Heathrow airport? Hmmm.'
Predictably, he has been condemned by organisations which are wrong on just about every other issue, too.
However, a spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents Border Force workers, said: 'Clarkson is an idiot.'
Presumably, they'd also consider their highly-successful and efficient counterparts in Israel as 'idiots' too.
Despite facing dozens of potential threats each day, the security set-up at Israel's largest hub, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, has not been breached since 2002, when a passenger mistakenly carried a handgun onto a flight. How do they manage that?

"The first thing you do is to look at who is coming into your airport," said Sela.

The first layer of actual security that greets travellers at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport is a roadside check. All drivers are stopped and asked two questions: How are you? Where are you coming from?

"Two benign questions. The questions aren't important. The way people act when they answer them is," Sela said.

Officers are looking for nervousness or other signs of "distress" — behavioural profiling. Sela rejects the argument that profiling is discriminatory.

"The word 'profiling' is a political invention by people who don't want to do security," he said. "To us, it doesn't matter if he's black, white, young or old. It's just his behaviour. So what kind of privacy am I really stepping on when I'm doing this?"
Feel free to read the rest of an article which openly ridicules the Neanderthal approach to security employed across the Atlantic and, by extension, us.

By contrast, Israel takes account of profiling - which Clarkson was alluding to - in delivering a service which benefits everyone.
The goal at Ben-Gurion is to move fliers from the parking lot to the airport lounge in a maximum of 25 minutes.
Idiots, obviously.

If an airport in the heart of a country considered target number one by extremists - and right on their doorstep to boot - can use intelligence to solve the problem of airport security, why can't we?

The answer is partly in the PCS union's response. They dismiss any thought of profiling in preference to checking absolutely everyone as Clarkson describes. In doing so, they are implicitly stating that they're not confident enough in their members' ability to spot true risk passengers as opposed to the family travelling to, or from, Sardinia.

Either that, or protecting jobs which might prove unnecessary under a more enlightened security regime at the expense of all passengers who indirectly pay the wages.

I suppose you could make a case that political correctness has instilled the requirement of all unions to instantly dismiss any talk of profiling, but that just makes things worse.

Whichever way you cut it, the only 'idiots' are those who carry on with a system which is not fit for purpose, instead of one which does the job without making our airports a self-inflicted national embarrassment.

Pointing out the collective stupidity of politicians, airport security managers, and unions resistant to innovative solutions isn't really a 'gaffe'.

More like a public service, I'd say.


13 comments:

Guest said...

The speed with which way the papes and the vested interests condemn an opinion are a sure sign that said opinion is probably cock on.

Mudplugger said...

When the revolution comes, it may be a close fight between Clarkson and the honoured blog mascot, Philip Davies, for the post of Home Secretary.

I'd happily accept either of them although, on balance, Clarkson may offer some other attractions at Transport or Health.

theprog said...

Er...at the risk of being politically incorrect, political correctness rules the roost in this country. And, ironically, often appears to exacerbate divisiveness, thus paving the way for even more political correct legislation along the road leading to a socialist Utopia.

'In 1923, with the help of the German Communist Party, the Institute for Social Research was opened at Frankfurt University with Carl Grünberg as its first Director.
The initial work at the Institute was oriented towards exploring Marxism as a scientific and economic methodology, but after the death of Grünberg and the temporary directorship of Pollock, Jewish Marxist Max Horkheimer was appointed the to the chair and changed the direction of the Institute from promoting an orthodox Marxist philosophy to what would later be called "cultural Marxism," better known as "political correctness."
http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School 

Homo Neuroticum said...

Correct me if I am wrong
British customs spends more time ,personell and resources looking for
GOLDEN VIRGINIA TOBACCO
than it does looking for
illegal immigrants,failed asylum seekers,marijuana,crack cocaine,heroine,
murderers,rapists,Al Fatha,Al Quada,Hezbolha,Teleban,uzi machine guns ,Explosives
terrorists,mafia,yardies,Triads and The  Romanian Pick Pocket League.
put together

Just a rumour
RAF Typhoon Fighter/Bombers are being fitted out with Tobacco seeking sensors for low altitude sorties along the M2 and high altitude scanning
over the North Circular Road.

Paranoid Citizen  

…Zaph said...

So, basically, the union is saying they can't be arsed to do their jobs and the jobs in question may well be unnecessary anyway.

It's like the 1980s never happened…I feel a Sam Tyler moment coming on…

…and didn't we have terrorism back in those Life on Mars days as well? Only from a different country, of course. And we seemed to manage to get on with our lives without all the unnecessary crap we have to put up with now.

Why is that, I wonder. Is it because they're not Oirish last time, to be sure??

JonathanBagley said...

It's not fashionable among my social circle to admire Clarkson, but I think he talks a lot of sense. His serious side is much more interesting than some of his attempts at humour.

Clarissa said...

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, Clarkson is talking about those who have just fallen off of the plane where as the security at TLV that was described is for people looking to board a plane.

A better comparison, surely, would be to look at what they do at TLV as regards immigration?

Clarissa said...

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, Clarkson is talking about those who have just fallen off of the plane where as the security at TLV that was described is for people looking to board a plane.

A better comparison, surely, would be to look at what they do at TLV as regards immigration? 

Dick_Puddlecote said...

I think it's probably fair to assume they'd be similarly prepared for passengers moving in the other direction. The article does talk about how the Israeli public would refuse to accept anything less than efficiency, unlike the 'mustn't grumble' attitude here or in the US/Canada.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

I think it's probably fair to assume they'd be similarly prepared for passengers moving in the other direction. The article does talk about how the Israeli public would refuse to accept anything less than efficiency, unlike the 'mustn't grumble' attitude here or in the US/Canada.

Clarissa said...

I don't know if applies to all flights to Israel or is just El Al but the latter certainly start doing security checks at the departure airport (e.g. LHR).

I might check with my Jewish SA colleague what he has to go through on arrival when he and his husband go there on holiday.

moonrakin said...

Time for more direct action like those passengers took at...  was it Portsmouth ?  ferry terminal about 2 years ago when the Border Agency baboons tried to make 'em wait because they were on reduced manning / work to rule.

Wave your passport in the air and keep walking.... 

truckerlyn said...

JC for PM PLEASE!

Yes, he does make some gaffes, this not being one of them, but he is surely a complete beginner when pitched against most of our politicians!

Until we have JC or someone very like him, with good, old fashioned common sense, in government and preferably in the driving seat, we have no hope, I fear!