The Anonymous Widower

Michael and Rochelle

Michael Shields, who was jailed for an attack in Bulgaria has now been released by the Home Secretary using his prerogative.  The conviction was always dubious, especially when it involved such a horrendous offence.  You just feel that in such cases, everyone should make their best efforts to get the right conviction.  I don’t think they did here and preferred the anyone would do to discourage the others. I have not seen the evidence, but because that eminent organisation, Fair Trials International, have been supporting Mr. Shields, the conclusion is most likely just.

Rochelle Adams is a 19 year-old Canadian, who made the mistake of falling in love and getting married to Adam from Wales.  In fact, she was just a few months younger than my late wife was when we got married in 1968,  We succeeded and were married for 39 years until her untimely death.

A few years ago, Rochelle would have been allowed to stay in the United Kingdom, as is fit and proper for anybody setting out in that noble joining between two people.  But because we must protect people against forced marriages, she can’t, and so Adam and Rochelle must start their married life for eighteen months five thousand kilometres apart until she is 21.  She should then be able to get a spousal visa.  Or one would hope so, but if Prudence’s disreputable bunch are still in power, you could imagine a different result.

Now the Home Secretary has the power under the Forced Marriages Act to allow Rochelle to stay.  As the BBC says.

He had the discretion to let Mrs Wallis remain with her husband at their home near Aberystwyth but refused to do so because many other innocent victims may also be caught out by the same rule.

But he remains stubborn and is hiding behind the bureaucratic mess that has been created in the last few years.  We need to protect against forced marriages, but there are better ways of doing it.  After all one forced marriage case involved a thirty-year-old or so doctor!  Did their Act help?

Perhaps though you can see his reasoning.  Allow one exception and he’d have to allow many more because of a very badly drafted piece of legislation.  And let’s face it Prudence and his cronies have been responsible for a lot of that!

Or could I just be cynical and say there are more Labour votes on Merseyside than in the Aberystwyth area?

September 9, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | News | Gordon Brown, Human Rights, Law, Marriage, NuLabor, Politics