It's not that important but...

Now, I’m not a fan of the Daily Express but even by their standards there is an article in the paper today that could best be described as misleading. The headline on the top right hand side of the front page reads “Outrage as police spend £82m on translators for foreign criminals”.

Firstly can I point out to the Express that there is an online thesaurus so they can look up, for free, words that mean the same as “outrage” but are different from “outrage” which seems to appear on their front page at least twice a week. This is, of course, not the only problem with the article; it is a deliberate distortion of the truth in an attempt to stir up racial tension.

The sub-headline, if that is the correct term, is “That would put 3,542 Officers on the Beat”. Well that, context free, claim is worth checking out. I'm sure there are other things that police forces spend money on that could be described in such a way, how much, for instance, do police forces spend on cars? Or car maintenance? Or petrol? There are alternatives you know. In my day the police got by just using there bikes. Do they describe the money that is spent on this, also, essential service in the same terms? Of course they don't. It's as if they are deliberately taking something that involves non-English speakers and making a fuss about it because it involves non-English speakers. Surely there must be more to it that because if it was just that then that would be petty racism and I'm sure that they wouldn't do that? Well let's have a look.

When you have a look at the article on the website, and I strongly suggest that you don't, the headline now reads “Police Spend £82million Talking to Migrants”, so they have already backed away from their original claim. No longer “foreign criminals” as originally claimed but now “migrants”.

Some would wonder whether this semantic difference is important, well yes it is. It has gone from people who have done something wrong, although they are still entitled to a fair trial which I would assume understanding what they had been charged with and making sure that they are fairly questioned, to anyone questioned at all that doesn't speak English as a first language and lives here. Well that seems a little rude. Read past the headlines and it becomes “foreign criminals, victims and witnesses who do not speak English”, so anyone who has come into contact with the police whose English is not so great. This will inlcude people reporting crime and witnesses, these are the people who the Express thinks shouldn't be talking to the police because it may cost some money. What an odd idea.

How about that figure of £82 million. From the headline you would assume that it was for a year, is it? Umm, no. It is, according to the article, over 3 years. This headline is a total lie isn't it?

So back to that figure of 3,542 police on the streets talked about in the sub-headline, is that for one year as would be a reasonable persons insinuation? Again no, it's over 3 years.

So, that headline again is “Outrage as police spend £82m on translators for foreign criminals”. What it should really read is “Police spend £82m on making sure that people whose first language isn't English are able to help them with their inquires, get a fair trial or report an offense. Oh and over 3 years.

This story is pretty formulaic for the Express though, it even contains a quote from an organization whose motto is, I assume, “Will be outraged for money”, the Tax Payers' Alliance. Which tax payers' do they think they represent? It certainly isn't anyone that I know.

A quick competition then, can we guess the quote, the story is about translation services, go on, give it a go, it really isn't that hard. Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The taxpayer has a right to expect someone residing in Britain to learn to speak English.” TWAT!!!!! What if the person mugged is here on holiday? Should they only be allowed to report the crime if they describe their attacker in full sentences without using the phrase “how you say.....”? When you holiday in Tuscany, as I assume you do, would you be able to say, in the necessary detail, what happened to you if you gang raped by a herd of marauding Wild Bore? Well would you? If not then you should not expect justice.

The article even says that it is only $1.5million per force, so not that much then but still they feel the need to be outraged.

This is a non-story which has had it's context removed and has been exaggerated with the sole intent of stirring up racial hatred with the Express' readership. Add a headline that is, essentially a lie, and the job is done. Well done all round.