Friday 3 February 2012

John Terry, Steve Hester, Mass Media, Mass Histeria!

Over the last couple of weeks the media have whipped up at storm and many have been caught up in it.

First let me say, that if John Terry of Chelsea and England Football Teams is found guilty of committing  "racial abuse" against Anton Ferdinand, he should face the consequences of that in a court of law (not the media) and should rightly be condemed for doing so.

Secondly, I would like to point out that Steve Hester CEO at the publicly owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was only being paid a bonus for doing his job as agreed with his employer i.e. you and me or HM Government.

John Terry has not been found guilty of anything and Steve Hester was been paid for a job well done. However, John Terry has lost the England captaincy and Steve Hester has lost his bonus.

So why are we throwing away the things that we hold so dear in this Country. Things like, all citizens are innocence until proven guilty in a court of law and that if you agree a contract of employment both parties (Employer and Employee) should stick to it.

Two of the reasons for this are, the power of the media and our propensity to believe them. This is incredibly dangerous to us personally and our future as a Country. We have build up our laws in this Country over thousands of years, to protect us from injustice and the baying crowd. We should not now throw them away just because we "think" we have all the "evidence" we need to judge them, especially when that "evidence" is provided by the media.

Something to think about? The reason for our laws is to avoid the following. Should John Terry be found not guilty of the charge against him, he will have missed his opportunity, a 15 year career highlight of leading his Country, England, in a major tournament. Since joining RBS as part of the Government rescue plan. Steve Hester, has done a great job in helping the us, the tax payer, to get our money back, hence his bonus however, he may now decide to leave RBS and get a better job. Maybe one where he can trust his new employer to pay him as agreed in his contract of employment. I wonder who will pick up the challenge of the RBS after that?

Final thought - Going back to my opening line. The problem with a storm is that it can turn things upside down, so be care in what you wish, pray or ask for, you may get it.